This is Us
by redheadedsweetheart
Summary: Sequel to "I Don't Love You Anymore". The love story between Cody and Jenna continues. How will they deal with life now that they have a baby together? Is their love strong enough to withstand whatever life throws at them?
1. Prolouge

Summary: Sequel to "I Don't Love You Anymore". Cody and Jenna are back together for good and are celebrating their tenth wedding anniversary by renewing their wedding vows. This story jumps around a lot—taking us back to high school, flashing back to scenes from the first story, and also in the time between when they got back together and the present. Reviews are welcome. Thanks, J

**Prologue **

_**This is us down at the Mardi Gras This is us In your Daddy's Car You and the missing link Yeah, I'd had a little too much to drink, now Too long in the sun Having too much fun You and me and our memories This is us**_

Jenna Runnels was putting the final touches on her hair and was starting to feel that nervous jumpy feeling in her stomach. She wasn't sure why she was feeling nervous; her and Cody had been married for ten years now, there was nothing to be nervous about. Today was their tenth wedding anniversary and they were renewing their vows in the backyard of her parents' home. It felt strange to Jenna, but at the same time right, that today was her 28th birthday and she had been married to Cody since the day she turned 18.

Jenna and Cody had been high school sweethearts who were inseparable from the age of 15. He teased her in junior high and made her cry every day after school until he finally worked up enough nerve to ask her to go the movies with her one Friday night. She pretended to hesitate, but in her head she was saying yes, yes, yes! That soft kiss at the end of the night when he walked her home sealed the deal, and they had been in love since.

During their senior year of high school they had made plans to elope when she turned 18. No one knew of their plans; no one knew about the little secret she was carrying also. The idea of having a baby together was just an added bonus for the couple.

_**Rocking at the barbecue Yeah, when we said I do Hand jiving on the Ballroom floor You in that wedding coat you wore And you in that amazing dress I was stoned on love I guess You and me we were meant to be This is us **_

They couple moved to Atlanta, much to the surprise of their family and friends. No one knew they were eloping. They stopped by Jenna's house to pick up her bags and told her parents what she has done last night. They were livid. Jim Andrews immediately called Virgil Runnels and told them what his son had did. Virgil was on the road a lot at the time and had no idea what his son had been up to. In order to cover up neglectful parenting, he vowed to disown his son for his actions.

The apartment Cody had found was on a bad side of the city; the building had definitely seen better days and was not at all what Jenna was used to. Jenna had grown up in a beautifully decorated four bedroom home on five acres just outside of Marietta. To be honest, Jenna was spoiled; her parents indulged her every want because she was their only child. This new living arrangement with her husband was going to be difficult for her. For the first time in her life, she wasn't going to get what she wanted. She wanted Cody and she had him. But she had also hoped for a more desirable apartment after they had gotten married. She put her best face on and smiled; trying to make the run down two bedroom apartment a home for them and their upcoming baby.

For the first two weeks of their marriage, they were in heaven—long make out sessions on the sofa, she learned how to cook, Cody learned how to fix things around the apartment, life was perfect. She had plans to enroll in community college that fall, until then she would wait tables at a local bar; and he had taken a job at a factory in the city. He despised the factory job, but tried not to let his wife see that. He had to provide for their little family right now, and he would do whatever it took to do that.

Eight weeks into her pregnancy, Jenna started to feel pains in her abdomen. She held off complaining until late afternoon when finally the pain got to be too much and she begged Cody to take her to the hospital. Cody tried to be calm and to make his young wife feel at ease while she sat on the examining table. Unfortunately for the newlyweds, tragedy had struck and Jenna had lost the baby.

The car ride back to the apartment was silent; the only sound was Jenna occasionally sniffling, trying to hold back her sobs. She felt broken inside. Her baby was gone. The miscarriage was the beginning of the end for the couple. Jenna felt herself drifting away from Cody and he had started to become more and more frustrated with his factory job. His father was a pro wrestler who went by the name Dusty Rhodes, the American Dream. Since he was a little boy, the only thing Cody ever wanted to do with his life was to be a wrestler just like his father. He had put that dream aside when he married Jenna. He couldn't be a husband, father and wrestler at the same time; it wouldn't have been fair to Jenna.

He still held onto his dream however, and slowly tried to convince Jenna that maybe he should go to Ohio for wrestling training. Jenna didn't want to be a wrestler's wife; she didn't want a husband that was gone five or six days out of the week. She wanted a husband who worked a normal job and was home every night. Cody's dream started to make the couple drift farther apart during their short marriage.

After a particular horrid argument one night, Jenna laid in their bed thinking while Cody slept on the couch. Maybe he was right; maybe it was time for him to live his dream. Obviously working in a dirty factory and living in a crappy apartment wasn't his dream. It wasn't hers either; she wanted to write. She wanted the college experience; instead she was waiting tables and living in hell. She thought through her decision that sleepless night over and over again. Her decision was going to hurt Cody, but it was going to be the best thing for him. Jenna knew he wouldn't leave for Ohio unless she wasn't around. It pained her to think about what her life was going to be without Cody, but more than anything, the only thing she wanted was for him to be happy. And that meant she had to leave him.

She called her best friend Michelle and together they formed an escape plan for Jenna. She had an aunt who lived in Minnesota who would let her stay with her while she went to the U of M. She wiped away the tears from her face as she wrote the good-bye note to her husband. She had to make it seem like she their marriage just wasn't working anymore and that she didn't love him as much as she had thought. It pained her to take off her wedding band and leave it along with the note on the kitchen table where he would find it when he came home from work. With one final sad look around their little home, she said good-bye and let the only man she was over going to love go so he could pursue his dream.

Jenna never filed for divorce; she never wanted to leave Cody in the first place. Life went on and she finished college and took a job as a reporter for a magazine in Minneapolis. It was almost six years before she thought about dating again and had finally met someone. His name was Andrew and he was in marketing, a safe career that meant that he would be home every night. As the relationship between Jenna and Andrew got more serious, Jenna finally forced herself to go to the courthouse and file divorce papers.

Meanwhile in Atlanta, Cody did end up going to Ohio for wrestling training and was eventually signed on with the WWE. He was finally living his dream, but it saddened him to live it without his beautiful wife by his side. Almost eight years after she had left him that note on the kitchen table, divorce papers from Jenna finally showed up at his father's house. He couldn't believe it; it took her all these years to finally do it. He refused to sign them; instead he demanded that he see her so she could give him an explanation. She tried to convince him to just sign the papers so that they could both move on with their lives. She had hoped that deep down inside he wouldn't sign the papers and they could reconcile. But she had made her decision and did what she thought was best for him.

He struck a deal with her; if she would give him two weeks for her to realize that she did still love him, he would sign the papers at the end of the two weeks if they couldn't make it work out. It only took a few days for Jenna to realize that she did still love him and that she still wanted to be with him. Life apart from each other brought other people into their lives. Cody had been seeing a woman named Layla on and off for a while and Layla wasn't giving Cody up without a fight. He made a bad decision and continued to see Layla while trying to get back together with his wife. Cody's friend Randy decided to take an interest in Jenna and took advantage of her at her weakest moment. Through arguments and accusations, everything the couple had worked together to try and rebuild fell apart. Jenna left for Minneapolis again and the couple didn't speak for six months.

She flew to Atlanta to help celebrate her parents wedding anniversary. Fate put Jenna and Cody face to face again at the airport. It had been six months since he had signed the divorce papers, but she never filed them. They agreed that they had things to talk about. Jenna admitted that she was sorry and that she still loved him; she was tired of living without him. Cody accepted Jenna's apology and he tore up the divorce papers once and for all.

Within a month the couple was living together in Atlanta. Cody had taken some time off from traveling to help his wife get settled into their new home. Within two months she was pregnant. Later that year Amanda Jean was born. She was a perfect little girl with brown eyes like her mother and dark brown hair like her father; Mandy was the light of their lives. Cody still travels with the WWE and Jenna works as a freelance writer in Atlanta. A few times each year Jenna and Mandy will go on the road with Cody. He's a proud husband and father and shows his wife and daughter off to everyone.

This story will follow Cody and Jenna's journey together; from falling in love with each other in high school to eloping on her 18th birthday. This is us.


	2. Vows

**Chapter 1**

Jenna met her father at the bottom of the stairs; he looked nervous. "What's the matter with you, daddy?" she asked quietly as she took his arm and they started through the house to the backyard.

"Nothing. I'm just a little sad. I never got to do this the first time..." he trailed off.

Jenna sighed. "I know, daddy. I'm sorry. But you're here now, aren't you?"

"Yes. Yes, I am; and I couldn't be happier. You are happy, aren't you, Jenna Kay?" he asked nervously as they stood by the backdoor.

"Of course I'm happy. Cody and I are back together for good now and little Mandy is the perfect addition to our family."

"She sure is; have you seen her in her little dress yet?" Jim asked with a smile. He adored his only granddaughter; Amanda was the light of his and Alice's life. They enjoyed being grandparents almost as much as they enjoyed raising Jenna.

"No, I haven't yet. I bet she's over the moon being able to wear that pretty dress," Jenna said with a quiet smile.

Jenna peeked out the door and saw her parent's backyard filled with their friends and family. She saw Cody standing at the end of the make shift aisle with his brother Dusty and best friend Ted standing next to him. She glanced over and saw her best friends from high school, Amy and Michelle standing next to the pastor. This was it. This was the wedding she never had gotten. She had married Cody on her birthday ten years ago at the home of the local justice of the peace in a quick ceremony. This afternoon, her and Cody would renew their marriage vows and tonight they would dance the night away; all courtesy of her mom and dad; they promised to give their only daughter the wedding reception that she had always dreamed of. It was a beautiful fall afternoon and Jenna pushed her nervous feelings aside and reminded herself to smile.

"Jenna Kay...before we walk out there, I have to tell you something," her father said softly. Jenna turned to look at her father, who had tears in his eyes. "You look beautiful. Just like your mother when I married her all those years ago." Jenna felt tears spring to her eyes as well. She did have to admit that she did look nice today—she picked out a long, form fitting ivory gown with a strapless top and delicate beading. Her medium length brown hair was pulled back with two small clips and there was a small strand of pearls around her neck. She felt beautiful.

"Thank you, dad..." Jenna whispered as the music started to softly play, signaling their cue to start walking down the aisle.

_Just you and I, Sharing our love together._

_And I know in time, We'll build the dreams we treasure._

_We'll be all right, just you and I._

_Just you and I_

_Just you and I_

"Are you ready, darling?" her dad asked as he took his only daughter's arm and started leading her out the door to stand under the arch covered in roses as the guests stood up to watch the bride and her father walk down to the aisle. Jenna nodded and bit her bottom lip, she held her bouquet of yellow roses close to her. "I'm ready," she managed to squeak.

_Sharing our love together_

_And I know in time,_

_And I know in time,_

_We'll build the dreams we treasure._

_And we'll be all right,_

_Just you and I._

Holding her father's arm tightly they started making their way down the aisle. Cameras started flashing and people Jenna and Cody have known their whole lives were smiling at the sight of the radiant, blushing bride. Slowly they made their way down the aisle towards the end where Cody was waiting for her. She glanced down the aisle and saw how handsome he looked today in a black suit and tie and a smile on his face. She caught his eye and he winked at her, making her stomach flip. It still amazed her that after almost 15 years together, he still made her feel this way.

_And I remember our first embrace,_

_That smile that was on your face,_

_The promises that we made._

_And now your love is my reward,_

_And I love you even more,_

_Than I ever did before._

Jenna smiled at the sight of her daughter standing next to her mother. Mandy's dark brown hair had been curled and had been pulled back with a headband. Her little face lit up when she saw her mommy come down the aisle with grandpa. She looked adorable in her fluffy ivory dress with the yellow sash around her waist. She was a carbon copy of Jenna.

They finally made it to the end of the aisle; Jim shook Cody's hand and kissed his only daughter on the cheek before he went to sit with his wife. Alice was already wiping tears away from her eyes. She had waited ten years to see her daughter marry Cody.

The ceremony went fairly quickly and then it was time for the couple to recite their vows. Cody went first. "I promise to love you above all others and to value your friendship as a precious gift. I look forward to raising our family and building our relationship under the care and guidance of God. I promise to stand beside you in sickness or health, in times of prosper and decline, in peace and in turmoil, as long as we both shall live." Cody placed a new wedding band onto Jenna's ring finger. She wiped tears away from her eyes before she recited her own vows to Cody.

"I love you. You are my best friend. Today I give myself to you in marriage. I promise to encourage and inspire you, to laugh with you, and to comfort you in times of sorrow and struggle. I promise to love you in good times and in bad, when life seems easy and when it seems hard, when our love is simple, and when it is an effort. I promise to cherish you, and to always hold you in highest regard. These things I give to you today, and all the days of our life." She slipped a new wedding band onto Cody's ring finger. The couple shared a kiss and the minister presented Mr. and Mrs. Cody Runnels.

The guests clapped as Cody and Jenna walked back up the aisle hand in hand, beaming from ear to ear. They were ready to celebrate their marriage the way they should have ten years ago-in front of their family and friends.


	3. A Perfect Night

**Chapter 2**

_It's undeniable that we should be together,_

_It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never,_

_The basis is need-to-know, if you don't know just how I feel,_

_Then let me show you now that I'm for real,_

_If all things in time, time will reveal,_

_Yeah_

Randy watched Cody and Jenna move in slow circles around the dance floor. It's been over two years since he had had his little fling with her; but he still lusted after her every time he saw her. He tried to push down the jealous feeling that was rising up in him as he watched his friend's hands rest on her lower back and her arms were wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer for a kiss. Randy will admit that the way he did hook up with Jenna was downright deceitful; he had used every smooth line he could think of and had taken advantage of her at her most vulnerable moment—right after her and Cody had a huge fight outside a bar. With the help of Jack Daniels, he was able to convince her to spend the night with him. Every so often he still thought about that wild night they had spent together in her hotel room. Jenna had just found out that Cody was still seeing Layla on the side and the news crushed her. Luckily, Randy was there to pick up the pieces and to lend a comforting shoulder. Unluckily for Randy, however, Jenna and Cody loved each other too much to give up and they eventually got back together.

Cody didn't speak to Randy for almost six months after the whole sleeping with his wife incident happened. He came around eventually, though. Their friendship was still strained at best, but at least he was talking to him again. He had reluctantly invited Randy to the wedding reception, much to the disagreement of Jenna; she was cold towards Randy and didn't want anything to do with him anymore. Just because Cody had forgiven Randy for everything that had happened, didn't mean that Randy could keep his mind off of Jenna whenever he saw her. There was just something about her that kept drawing him to her. He had to get her out of his mind; there was no chance that she was ever going to leave Cody like she had before. They were back together, they had a baby now and they seemed to be more in love than before. Randy had missed his chance, but somehow he didn't think that was going to stop him from trying at least. He just had to find the perfect way to get under Jenna's skin and looking around the backyard and seeing her talk to a good looking blonde, he might have found the means to do just that.

_One, you're like a dream come true,_

_Two, just wanna be with you,_

_Three, girl, it's plain to see that you're the only one for me and,_

_Four, repeat steps one through three,_

_Five, make you fall in love with me,_

_If ever I believe my work is done, then I'll start back at one_

Cody tightened his arms around Jenna's waist; he heard her sigh in content in his ear. Today was perfect. They had renewed their wedding vows in front of their family and friends. Amanda would be staying with Grandpa Virgil tonight so it would just be the two of them for the whole night. Jenna agreed to go on the road with him starting on Sunday afternoon for a week. Amanda would be coming along this time also. He was really looking forward to spending time with his two favorite girls. Life was good.

"Cody?" Jenna whispered in his ear.

"Yeah, baby?" he whispered back as she pulled him closer.

"Tonight is perfect. Thank you."

"I would do anything for you, Jen. All you have to do is ask..." he murmured as he leaned down to kiss her softly on the mouth. She pulled away and he had to hold back a chuckle when he saw her face turning red when people started clapping when he had kissed her. Yes, tonight was definitely perfect.

As the night wore on, Jenna noticed that her friend Michelle was hanging around Cody's friend Randy an awful lot. She couldn't put her finger on why, but it made her nervous to see the 5'6" blonde with blue eyes giggle every time Randy whispered in her ear. Jenna had enough experience with Randy to know that he was probably using every slick line in the book to try and get what he wanted from her. She sighed, knowing that Michelle would make her own decision about him; she had recently divorced from her doctor husband and was on the rebound. Jenna just hoped that she didn't decide to make Randy her rebound lover; nothing good would come of that.

Virgil came over to Jenna with a sleepy Amanda trailing behind him. "Hi sweetie," she said softly to her daughter as she picked her up; Mandy's head immediately went down to Jenna's shoulder and she knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the little girl was asleep. Jenna kissed her on the top of her brunette head and smiled at her father in law. Virgil, like Jim and Alice, absolutely doted on the little girl. Cody came over to where his wife was standing and offered to take Mandy from Jenna so he could carry her out to his father's car. Mandy was spending the night with grandpa; she had been so excited to find out she would be sleeping at "PaPa's" house that she refused to go to sleep last night until finally her tiredness won out and she fell into a soft slumber.

Jenna felt her heart melt as she watched her only daughter sleep on Cody's shoulder. The day they had found out they were pregnant with Mandy was one of the happiest days of her life. She was finally able to let go of those painful feelings of the miscarriage she endured when they first got married, and was able to finally look forward to the future with Cody and their new baby. Cody had been on the road for most of her pregnancy, and it seemed like every time he came home, her stomach had grown. He was convinced that she had never looked more beautiful to him than when her stomach was swollen with their unborn baby. He found himself falling more in love with her every time he came home from the road.

He winked at her as he followed his dad out to the car with a sleeping Mandy on his shoulder. Jenna smiled at the sight and looked around her parents backyard. They had set up a white tent with soft lights strung throughout. It was beautiful. The music was still playing and people were still dancing the night away. She just happened to glance around and see that Randy and Michelle were now dancing cheek to cheek on the dance floor. The sight made her uneasy and she didn't know why. Randy was a player, Michelle was vulnerable. She sighed and tried to tell herself that if Michelle did end up making a mistake with Randy, all she could do was be there to help pick up the pieces.


	4. Senior Year

**A/N: This is a flashback chapter.**

**Chapter 3**

_**Senior Year**_

_Cody was nervous. He was driving over to Jenna's house to pick her up for their Saturday night date and he was nervous. He glanced over at the passenger's seat and his heart rate picked up as he looked at the little black box sitting on the seat. Tonight was the night. He was going to finally ask her; and he prayed that she said yes. He was certain she would, they had been head over heels in love with each other for almost three years now. They weren't old enough to legally get married yet, but he had to know if she wanted to be with him for the long haul. _

_As he made the turn down the long gravel driveway, he reached over and put the ring box into the center counsel. He would surprise her later tonight when the time was right. He held in a groan as he made his way down the driveway and up to the house; it looked like both her parents were home tonight. Jim and Alice Andrews didn't particularly care for Cody. They thought the two teenagers were getting too close too fast. If they only knew, Cody thought to himself as he put the truck in park. He grabbed the bouquet of flowers from the passenger seat and got out of the truck. He hesitated walking up to the front porch; Jim was sitting on the porch swing, glaring at him. _

_It wasn't that Jim didn't care for the Runnels boy; he just thought that his only daughter could pick a different mate. One whose family wasn't involved in that professional wrestling nonsense. He couldn't see his princess spending the rest of her life with a man who enjoyed such a lowlife profession. Jenna Kay was destined to marry a doctor or lawyer and spend her days raising babies and having lunch with her mother at the country club. Just like Alice Andrews did when they first got married. Dr. Jim Andrews was one of the most respected physicians in the greater Atlanta area and Mrs. Alice Andrews was known for her charity work in the area. Along with their beautiful daughter, Jenna Kay, they made a perfect family._

_Cody slowly made his way up the front porch steps, clutching the bouquet of yellow, pink and white daisies he brought for Jenna. He felt uneasy as Jim continued to glare at him, but he knew he had to be polite otherwise his girlfriend would be upset that he wasn't making an effort to be nice to her father. _

"_Hi, Mr. Andrews. How are you tonight?" Cody said nervously._

"_Just fine," Jim replied shortly. He really didn't care for Jenna's choice of boyfriend. She could do so much better, he thought to himself._

"_Um...is Jenna ready to go?"_

_Jim continued to glare at him, not saying anything, he stood up and walked towards the screen door; Cody had no choice but the follow him. He knew that this was the most civil Jenna's dad would ever be towards him. Cody walked into the house behind Jim; Cody still marveled at how beautiful this house was and how it was absolutely nothing like the house he grew up in._

_Alice was sitting at the kitchen table when Cody and Jim came in; Alice looked up and saw that Jenna's boyfriend was here. She tried to smile at him and be civil but it was hard for her because she knew that her only daughter could do so much better when it came to choosing a mate._

"_Hello, Cody," she sense tensely._

_Cody tried to smile back at Alice, "Hello, Mrs. Andrews. Is Jenna ready?" he asked quickly. More than anything he wanted to just grab Jenna and get the hell out of here. This house made him nervous; it made him feel like he didn't belong here. Cody not belonging here was exactly how Jim and Alice felt._

"_I believe so. I'll go upstairs and check. Please excuse me," she said politely as she left the kitchen and went upstairs to Jenna's room. Alice could hear the stereo playing, she stopped to listen as she heard her daughter singing along with the song that was playing. She held in a sigh when she heard the lyrics Jenna was singing. Alice had a sinking feeling that her princess was head over heels in love with the boy that was downstairs. Cody wasn't good enough for her; he came from a background much different than theirs and a long term relationship between the two would never work. But try telling that to a teenage girl who thinks that she's in love. It was useless._

_**Maybe it's intuition **_

_**But some things you just don't question**_

_**Like in your eyes**_

_**I see my future in an instant**_

_**and there it goes**_

_**I think I've found my best friend**_

_**I know that it might sound more than**_

_**a little crazy but I believe **_

_Alice listened with a nervous feeling in her stomach that her daughter was more in love with this boy than she had first realized. She watched unnoticed from the door of her bedroom. Jenna was singing softly along with the radio while she brushed out her long light brown hair in the mirror. Alice had noticed lately that Jenna had been taking extra care with her appearance with her weekly dates with that Runnels boy. Tonight she had on a soft pink sundress that showed off her tan and figure. _

_**I knew I loved you before I met you**_

_**I think I dreamed you into life**_

_**I knew I loved you before I met you**_

_**I have been waiting all my life **_

_**There's just no rhyme or reason**_

_**only this sense of completion**_

_**and in your eyes**_

_**I see the missing pieces**_

_**I'm searching for**_

_**I think I found my way home**_

_**I know that it might sound more than**_

_**a little crazy but I believe**_

_Alice sighed at the sight of her love sick teenage daughter. She knocked softly on the door frame, breaking Jenna away from her reflection in the mirror. She turned to her mother with a smile on her face._

"_Cody is here," Alice said softly as she tried to hold back a grimace as she saw her face light up at the sound of her boyfriend's name._

"_Thanks, mom. Do I look all right?" she asked in her southern drawl as she spun around, the soft pink fabric of the sundress twirling around._

"_You always look beautiful, princess," Alice replied with a forced smile._

_Jenna and Alice made their way downstairs where Cody and Jim were sitting in the living room; neither man speaking. Cody was staring straight ahead at the wall while Jim ignored the younger man and read the daily newspaper._

_Cody's face lit up when his pretty girlfriend came into the living room. He stood up and smile, holding out the bouquet of flowers he had brought her._

"_You look beautiful," he whispered softly as Jenna took the flowers._

"_Thank you, Cody," she whispered back as she handed the flowers to her mother to put in a vase._

"_We're going now, mom and dad," Jenna said to her parents._

"_Be back by curfew," Jim said gruffly and fought the urge to pull that boy away from his daughter as he watched Cody take Jenna's hand and lead her out of the house._


	5. The Proposal

**A/N Kinda short. Wanted to get it out tonight. Thanks for reading, don't forget to leave a review or a plot line idea. I'm open to most anything. J**

**Chapter 4**

_**Senior Year**_

_Cody and Jenna made their way outside to the truck and down the gravel driveway before he pulled over at the top of the hill and put the truck in park. He had to kiss her; sure he had just seen her last night, but that was almost twenty four hours ago and it hurt to be away from her at all. He put his arm around her shoulders and pulled her close, bending his head down to kiss her softly on the lips. She reciprocated right away and put her arms around him to feel his warm body close to hers, She sighed in content and opened her eyes as the kiss broke and they pulled away from each other, both with a satisfied smile on their face._

_**Children behave**_

_**That's what they say when we're together**_

_**And watch how you play**_

_**They don't understand and so we're**_

"_What do you want to do tonight, Jen?" Cody asked as he brought her left hand up to his mouth and softly kissed the back of her hand._

"_I don't care. Whatever you want to do is fine with me as long as I get to be with you tonight," she whispered back._

_Cody smiled and put the truck into drive; he knew exactly where they would go. They drove in a comfortable silence for a few miles before they arrived at their favorite spot by the river. It was a warm night, but he still kept a blanket in the truck for nights just like this. He hopped out of the truck first and came around to her side to open her door. Hand in hand they walked around to the bed of the truck. She waited while he fiddled with the truck gate and then he helped her in. _

_**Runnin' just as fast as we can**_

_**Holdin' on to one another's hand**_

_**Tryin' to get away into the night**_

_**And then you put your arms around me**_

_**And we tumble to the ground**_

_**And then you say**_

_Cody laid down the blanket and they sat down together, his arms around her and her head resting on his chest. He started playing with her long hair and softly blowing in her ear. She giggled at the tickling sensation she felt when he did that. They sat in the bed of the truck talking softly about school and people they knew. They were going to be starting their senior year next week. Cody had turned 18 a few weeks ago and Jenna would turn 18 right after graduation. Then they would be free; free to be with each other whenever they wanted instead of having to adhere to her parents curfew._

_**I think we're alone now**_

_**There doesn't seem to be anyone around**_

_**I think we're alone now**_

_**The beating of our hearts is the only sound**_

_Cody knew that right now, while they were alone together in the back of his truck with the moon shining bright on a perfect August night was the perfect time to ask her. He kissed her on the cheek and said he would be right back. She nodded and was content with just looking up at all of the stars in the sky. _

_**Look at the way**_

_**We gotta hide what we're doing**_

_**What would they say**_

_**they don't understand and so we're**_

_Cody came back around to the bed of the truck and climbed back in, the small black box secured in his pocket. She held out her arms for him and he settled in between hers legs, his back resting against her. She leaned down and kissed the top of his head, he leaned back and pulled her closer to him and kissed her softly on the lips. His mouth traveled from her mouth to her cheek and up to her ear. She shivered involuntarily as she felt his hot breath in her ear._

"_Jenna, I want to ask you something," he whispered in her ear as he swallowed his hesitation._

"_What's that, Cody," she whispered back and she enjoyed the feeling of having his strong body so close to hers._

_Cody pulled away from her and sat back on his heels; he took the little box out of his pocket and placed it in her hands. She looked down at the box in shock and then looked at him, then looked down at the box again._

"_Jenna. I love you. I really love you. I...I've been in love with you since I was 15. I know we're really young, and we can't do it right now, but I don't want to live my life without you."_

_Jenna felt tears start to sting her eyes. She started to smile as he continued rambling. "Jenna Andrews, will you marry me?" he managed to squeak out as he opened the ring box so she could see what he was offering her. It was a thin gold band with a small diamond; to her, it was the most beautiful ring in the world._

_She wiped the tears away from her face that had started to fall. Jenna threw her arms around Cody and pulled him closer to her. "Yes, yes, yes. I will marry you, Cody Runnels," she whispered in his ear._

_Cody breathed a sigh of relief and placed the small ring on her left hand. She put both of her hands on his cheeks and pulled him in close for a deep kiss..._

_**I think we're alone now (alone now)**_

_**There doesn't seem to be anyone around**_

_**I think we're alone now (alone now)**_

_**The beating of our hearts is the only sound**_

Present Time

Jenna looked down at the wedding ring that had replaced the small, thin, gold band Cody has bought for her eleven years ago. She still kept the ring in her cedar chest; it was a reminder of how far they had come over the years.

It was after one in the morning when the last guest gave their congratulations to the happy couple and said good night. Jenna found her parents standing by the gate. She walked over and hugged them both tightly, "Thank you mom and dad. Tonight was perfect. Thank you so much," she whispered to both of them. Cody saw Jenna saying good night to her parents and held back for a few minutes to give them some alone time.

Finally Jenna broke away from them and caught Cody's eye. She smiled at how handsome he still looked even though it had been a long day and they were both exhausted. He came over to her and placed an arm around her waist, "Are you ready to go home, baby?" he murmured in his wife's ear.

She nodded and let him lead her out of the backyard and into the driveway where his car was parked. Waving good bye to her parents, Jenna and Cody took off for home. He had been on the road for a week or so and they had a lot of catching up to do with each other while Mandy was staying the night at PaPa's house.


	6. The Morning After

**Chapter 4**

The ride back to their house was quiet except for the sound of the radio playing softly in the car. It had been a long day, and both Cody and Jenna were exhausted. They finally made it home; Cody shut the car off and walked around the car to open Jenna's door and to help her out. She still had her wedding dress on and Cody couldn't wait to help her out of it. Kissing her on the cheek, he closed the passenger side door behind her and the two headed up the front walk hand in hand.

After unlocking the front door, Cody surprised his wife by picking her up and carrying her across the threshold, kicking the door shut behind him. Jenna giggled at the gesture; Cody set her down and kept his hands wrapped around her slim waist. He leaned down and kissed her very gently until she started to respond by placing her hands on the back of his head and playing with the hair on the nape of his neck. Cody's lips moved to her ear, "Let's go upstairs, baby..."

_The Next Morning_

Jenna woke up before Cody did for once; his strong arms still wrapped tight around his waist. Last night had been a memorable night, filled with soft words, urgent kisses and promises of forever love. It was perfect. They had spent the last fifteen years in love with each other, and they were both looking forward to many more happy years together. But, in life, we all know that perfection hardly ever happens, and there is usually someone who is determined to end another person's happiness because they can't find their own happiness.

That person was Randy Orton. Randy woke up with a pounding headache, naked, and in a strange bed. He looked over and saw a pretty blonde woman laying next to him. He couldn't recall her name. Marcy? Mary? Mikayla? It didn't really matter; what Randy did remember about last night, was this woman was more than willing to show him a good time and to help him break out of the romantic rut he had found himself in lately. He pushed a lock of hair off of her neck and she stirred in her sleep. Seeing that she wasn't about to wake up any time soon, he got out of bed and looked around the room for his clothes. Finding them strewn all over the room, he finally gathered them all and got dressed just as the blonde was waking up.

Michelle sat up and looked around for the noise that had awoken her. Her eyes widened when she saw him pulling his shirt over his head. What did she do last night? She didn't remember much about Jenna and Cody's reception last night after that last shot of whiskey she had done. She didn't even like whiskey; she had only drank it because someone had bought it for her. Jenna was more of a whiskey drinker, a fact that Michelle never really understood.

The last thing Michelle remembered about Cody and Jenna's reception was doing shots with someone and then it was a little fuzzy, but then she remembered kissing someone on the hood of a car in front of the house. She could only assume that the person she was kissing last night was the man who she woke up next to. He looked like he was ready to bolt out the door at any second.

"Good morning..." he said softly as he walked over to the edge of the bed. Michelle, suddenly feeling very self conscious, pulled the blanket up to her neck and mumbled something unintelligible. She couldn't believe she had actually brought him home with her last night. Her divorce had just been finalized a week or so ago; this was definitely a rebound moment. Well, she thought to herself, at least he's really good looking. Michelle tried to remember what Jenna had told her about him, or if this was the same guy that she had been talking about in the first place. After her friend had moved back to Georgia they had a long talk about the journey Jenna and Cody's relationship had been through. She had never seen her friend so angry as when she talked about this guy that kept whispering ideas in her head ear and was trying to break up her and Cody. Now that Michelle thought about it some more, she was pretty sure that this guy was the Randy Jenna had been talking about.

"Um, hi..." she said softly as she moved out of the bed, wrapping the blanket around herself and headed into the bathroom. Hopefully, when she got back, he would do the right thing and just leave...

_Later that morning_

Jenna and Cody had just pulled up to Virgil's house; they were picking Amanda up and were taking her back home to get ready to go on the road later tonight. This was the first time Cody's wife and daughter would be coming on the road with him. Jenna had tagged along right after they found out that they were expecting Amanda; it was too awkward for her, however, being in the same vicinity with Randy.

They had just walked up the front steps, when the door opened quickly, and their little girl was standing there, her brown eyes lit up with excitement to see her mom and dad. "Mama!" she shouted as she struggled to reach the door knob of the screen door. Jenna laughed at her daughter's excitement. It wasn't often that Amanda was away from her at night; despite enjoying the alone time with her husband, she had missed her baby girl an awful lot.

"Hi, baby girl!" Jenna exclaimed as she scooped her daughter up in to her arms. "Did you have fun with PaPa last night?"

Amanda nodded her pretty head quickly, "Yep, yep. Papa let me have cookies for breakfast. No icky cereal like you make," the little girl said with a scowl on her face as she thought about the whole grain cereal Jenna begged her daughter to at least take a bite of.

"Cookies, huh? PaPa knows better than that," Cody scolded his father.

"Well, come on now kids, how often do I get to have this little spark plug over night? Let her PaPa have some fun with her!" Virgil said with a big chuckle.

The little Runnels family visited with Virgil for a few more minutes before they packed up Amanda's overnight bag and started to head home to get packed for their road trip with Cody. Half way home, Jenna's phone rang. It was Michelle, who was in tears, because apparently she had done the unthinkable last night. She brought Randy Orton back to her house and she slept with him.

"What the heck were you thinking, Chelle?" Jenna asked in disbelief. She remembered watching her friend dance with Randy, but she thought Michelle had more sense in that pretty head of hers than to take someone like Randy home.

"I don't know, Jenna. I don't remember what happened last night. All I know is that I woke up this morning and Randy was in my bed."

"Well, is he still there or did he leave?" Jenna asked as she cast a worried look in Cody's direction.

"He left the first chance he could get. He is such an asshole! He didn't even pretend to want my phone number or even lie to me and say that he'll see me soon. He just put his clothes back on and left!"

"What a snake...I'm so sorry that happened to you, Michelle..."

Jenna and Michelle talked for a few more minutes before they finally hung up. Jenna glanced in the back seat; Amanda was fast asleep. She quickly told Cody what his friend had done to Michelle. Cody wasn't surprised at all with Randy's behavior. Randy had always been like this; he gets what he wants from a woman and leaves the next morning. "There's not much we can do, Jen. Randy probably won't bother her anymore. Michelle is strong; she'll move past this. Hey...do you think she'd be a good date for Ted?"

"Hmm...maybe...He is kind of her type..." The idea of playing matchmaker for her friend distracted Jenna temporarily from the uneasy feeling she had in the pit of her stomach of what Randy had hoped to accomplish my sleeping with Jenna's best friend.


	7. On the Way to Tampa

**Chapter 6**

"Mandy, please sit still for just a minute while mama finishes packing," Jenna said calmly, trying to convince her bouncing daughter that jumping around asking when she was gonna see Uncle Teddy wasn't helping her mother get packed any faster. Where was Cody?

Cody was outside talking to Randy on the phone.

"I can't believe you did that, Randy. I thought you were trying to get on Jenna's good side again. Sleeping with her best friend and then leaving the next morning without a word is obviously not going to get you there, man."

"What was I supposed to do, Cody? Stay there and pretend I could remember her name?" Randy replied angrily.

"Huh. Maybe what you should have done in the first place, Randy, was not try to take her home in the first place!"

"Whatever, man. My sex life is none of your business."

"That's where you're wrong, Randy. Once your sex life starts involving my wife's best friend, it is my business. Michelle just got divorced from her husband not long ago. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was just finalized last week."

"I didn't know that."

"What? That she was recently divorced?"

"No, that her name was Michelle."

"You're an asshole, Randy," Cody said sharply as he hung up on his friend. Shaking his head, he headed back into the house to see if Jenna needed help finishing up the packing. He made his way upstairs and wanted to laugh when he saw the frustrated look on his wife's face, but the gleeful look on his daughter's face. Jenna was sitting on the floor while Mandy combed Jenna's hair. "Sit still, mama," Mandy said sternly.

"Hey...whatcha doing, Mandy? Making mommy pretty?" Cody asked softly as he took the comb away from her.

"Mama always pretty, daddy," she said in her little voice.

"Yeah, mama's always pretty," Cody said with a wink as he held his hand out to help Jenna off the floor. "Are you almost ready to go? Ted's going to pick us up in a few minutes."

"I think so. Can you carry these suitcases down?" Jenna asked as she scooped up Mandy and headed downstairs with her on her hip. Cody nodded and picked up the two remaining suitcases and followed Jenna down the stairs. He set the suitcases by the front door and heard a car pull up in the driveway. "Hey, Mandy. Uncle Teddy is here!"

Mandy let out a little squeak of excitement when she heard Cody mentioned Ted. "Where, daddy?" she exclaimed as she jumped up and down trying to peek out the window of the front door.

"Hold on, baby girl. He's coming up the stairs right now. You don't want to knock him down, do you?" Cody asked gently.

The door opened and Ted came in; he was immediately almost knocked over by Mandy jumping into his arms. Mandy loved her Uncle Ted. She had no idea that Ted wasn't her real uncle, but it didn't matter to the little girl. She adored Ted; and he returned the adoration by spoiling her. He had a bag behind his back and set her down on the floor. "Guess what Uncle brought you?"

Mandy jumped up and down in excitement and grabbed Ted by the hand and let him over to the couch so she could open her latest present.

"Ted, we've told you that you don't have to bring her something every time you see her. She's going to end up spoiled," Jenna scolded as she sat down in the chair across from them.

"Come on, Jen, let me have some fun. I don't have any kids of my own; let me enjoy being Uncle Teddy," he said as he helped Mandy open the bag. The little girl squealed with delight as she pulled out a brand new baby doll. "Thank you, Teddy," she cried as she threw herself into Ted's lap and gave him a big hug. "You're welcome, darling..."

Cody was sitting on the arm of the chair Jenna was sitting in, watching his best friend and daughter play with her new toy. "For the life of me, I can't figure out why he isn't married with kids yet," he said softly to his wife as they both watched Mandy show Ted how to properly hold a baby.

"Maybe he hasn't found the right one yet," she replied just as softly so Ted didn't hear them.

"Not everyone is as lucky as I am to have found the one when they're 16," he whispered back as he leaned down and kissed his wife softly on the lips.

"Ewwww. Mama and daddy are kissing again!" Jenna said as she wrinkled up her little nose and watched Jenna and Cody pull away from each other.

"Aw. It's ok, Mandy, I like mama," Cody said softly as he got off the chair and walked towards the pile of suitcases. "Are we almost ready to go?" he asked as he opened the front door and picked up Mandy's Tinkerbell suitcase and Jenna's hot pink rolling case.

"Um. We should wait a few more minutes," Ted said softly as she gave Mandy her doll back and stood up to help Cody with the bags.

"Why?" Cody asked.

"Well...um...Randy's not here yet."

"Who cares if Randy isn't here yet, he isn't traveling with us. Is he?" she asked Ted. "Teddy, please tell me Randy isn't traveling with us today. Please?" Jenna pleaded with her friend.

"That's the thing, Jen. Randy said he needed a ride to Tampa and well, I guess I kind of told him that we were headed that way and that we had room..." he trailed off as he hid behind Cody. He knew Jenna well enough to know that she was going to start throwing things at him soon.

Jenna just sighed in frustration as she looked at her husband. "Jen, it will be ok. It's just for today and you won't even know he's in the car. I promise," Cody said as he walked out the front door and headed towards the Trailblazer Ted had rented.

"Mama, can my baby doll come with too?" Mandy asked in her little voice.

"Of course. Let's get you and baby in the car seat so we're ready to go."

Fifteen minutes later, Randy finally showed up. He pulled up in the driveway and watched Jenna for a few seconds before he got out of the truck. "Damn..." he mumbled to himself as he watched her stand next to Cody and twirls her hair. She looked good today; her brown hair was pulled back with a clip, and was curled. She had on a pair of khaki capri pants with a white t-shirt. She was dressed so simply, but he still lusted after her. She turned her brown eyes towards him, seeing that he had finally showed up. This was going to be an interesting week, Randy thought to himself as he watched the object of his lust move closer to her husband and whisper in his ear. On more than one occasion, Randy wished it was him that Jenna whispered to instead of Cody. Sighing in defeat, he grabbed his suitcase and headed towards the Trailblazer that he was going to be riding in with everyone else for the rest of the day.

He nodded at Cody, Ted, and Jenna and opened the back door to throw his suitcase in; he shut the door and looked down and smiled. A miniature Jenna was standing next to him. The little girl's brown hair was pulled back into two pigtails and she had a pretty yellow dress on. "Who are you," she said innocently.

Randy chuckled and knelt down to her level. "My name is Randy. I'm a friend of your daddy's. What's your name?" Randy had never been formally introduced to Cody's daughter. In fact, this was the first time that a lot of the roster was going to actually meet both Jenna and Mandy.

"Mandy. Are you Uncle Teddy's friend too?"

"Sure am."

"What about mama. Are you mama's friend too?" Randy glanced over at Jenna and smirked at the angry look on her pretty face right now.

"Yes, I am. I like your mama a lot."

"She's pretty."

Another glance over at Jenna, then back to the little girl. "She's beautiful."

Cody couldn't figure out why his wife was scowling until he followed her gaze and saw Randy bent down and talking to Mandy. He put his arm around her waist and kissed her on the cheek. "Settle, darling," he whispered in her ear before he walked over to Randy and his daughter.

"Come on, pumpkin pie, let's get in your car seat.

"Daddy, can Randy sit by me?" she asked with a big smile.

"I guess so," Cody mumbled as he set his daughter in the car seat. Randy climbed in beside her as soon as Cody finished buckled her. Since Ted was driving, Jenna had two choices. She could sit in front with Ted and listen to him sing horribly along with the radio, or she could sit in the backseat and ready to Mandy all the way to Tampa. She heard Ted warming up his vocal chords and opted for reading to a toddler for five hours instead.

"Hey, Jenna," Randy said softly as he watched her fasten her seat belt.

"Randy," was all she said before she turned her attention to Mandy.

Randy sighed; it was going to be a long drive.


	8. Not Giving Up

**Chapter 6**

Jenna found herself staring in amazement at what was happening in the back seat on the way to Tampa. Amanda was completely engrossed in whatever silly game she was playing with Randy right now; she barely even noticed that her mom and dad were in the car. While it was a nice break for Jenna from having to constantly entertain the toddler, it made her feel uneasy the way Randy was taking such an interest in her and Cody's daughter. It made her wonder what he had up his sleeve. She knew that he still held some sort of a grudge with how she broke off their "fling". But it's been over two years, surely he couldn't still be planning some sort of revenge?

They finally made it to Tampa later that afternoon. Jenna was more than ready to just head up to their hotel room and take Mandy to the pool later. But, apparently Mandy had other ideas. Jenna leaned over to unbuckle her daughter and Mandy screeched, "No. Let Randy do it, mama!" Jenna first stared in disbelief that her toddler would talk to her that way then she turned her eyes to Randy, who was smiling from ear to ear. "What? The kid likes me," he mumbled as he fumbled with Mandy's buckles. He gently lifted her out of her car seat and carried her out of the truck. Jenna sat in disbelief at what had just happened. Cody opened the back door, "Baby? What's the matter?" he asked softly as he helped his wife out of the truck.

Jenna shook her head, "Nothing. Everything's fine," she said with a fake smile. She was about to tell Cody what was pissing her off when Randy appeared at their side still holding a smiling Amanda. "Daddy!" she squealed. Randy reluctantly handed the toddler off to her father.

"Hi, pumpkin pie. Do you want to go upstairs and unpack your stuff?" he asked as Mandy threw her little arms around Cody's neck.

"Can Randy come with us?" she asked excitedly looking over at Randy with a big smile.

"Um. I think Randy has things to do in his own room. How about me, you and mama go up to our room and then go down to the swimming pool?"

Mandy stuck out her bottom lip. Cody held in a chuckle when he saw how much his daughter resembled his wife when she did that. "But I want Randy and Uncle Teddy to come with us!" she pouted.

Cody sighed and looked to Randy for a little help. "Sure, kiddo, I'll come with you to the pool. But first you should go with mommy up to your room so you can get unpacked. Then I'll come over and we'll all go to the pool together. Sound like a plan?" Randy said gently. Jenna looked on in disbelief at the interaction between her daughter and the man she despised the most in the world.

Mandy nodded her little brunette head and allowed Cody to carry her into the hotel lobby. "What's the matter, Jenna?" Randy said softly behind her. She involuntarily shivered when his gruff voice whispered in her ear.

She turned around and glared at him. "Nothing."

"Seems like something is bothering you. Is there trouble in paradise?" he asked with a smirk.

Jenna rolled her eyes, "If you are referring to my marriage with Cody, everything is perfect. Not that it's really any of your business to begin with," she said sharply as she grabbed the handle of her suitcase at the same time his hand also reached for it. For a split second his large hand was on top of her smaller one. His steel blue eyes met her dark brown ones; his eyes were filled with lust, hers were filled with anger. "Let go, Randy," she said quietly.

He smirked once more before he took his hand off of hers. "Do you still think about me, Jenna? Do you think about me when you're all alone at night and Cody is on the road?" he growled quietly. He knew he was pushing her buttons right now, he knew that Cody could come back outside at any second and see what Randy was doing to Jenna. He knew Jenna could only take so much before she would either slap him or walk away; he was curious to see what she would do, which is why he kept pushing her.

"Don't worry about me, Randy. When Cody, my husband, does come home, he keeps me satisfied enough until he comes home again. I'm fine. Thanks for asking," she said softly before she grabbed her suitcase and Mandy's and turned on her heel and walked away from him. Her heart was beating a million miles a minute right now; what was Randy's problem? Why did he insist on playing these head games with her?

An hour or so later, Cody, Jenna, and little Mandy made their way down to the hotel pool. Cody had a house show tonight at eight o'clock. This would be Mandy's first live event; Jenna was hesitant to let her daughter attend. Something didn't sit right with her about letting her precious baby girl be exposed to the pro wrestling world. Some times Jenna didn't feel right being exposed to it herself. Since her and Cody had gotten back together for good, she had made every effort to share in Cody's joy. It was hard sometimes, but she still went to every show he asked her to go to with a smile on her face. This was his dream, his life. She just wanted him to be happy.

Randy was already down at the hotel pool with Ted. He was just getting into telling his buddy the story about the blonde he picked up the night of Cody's reception when he suddenly stopped talking and his attention was focused on someone walking into the room. Ted followed Randy's gaze and sighed. It was Jenna. "You've got to give it up, Randy. Her and Cody are back together for good now. Hell, they have a kid together now. You haven't got a chance in hell in breaking those two up."

Randy didn't say anything, he just glared at his friend. He honestly had no idea on how he was going to hook up with Jenna again, he just knew that eventually something, some random event, would turn her back to him. Cody would fuck up; he always did. And when he did, Randy would be waiting.


	9. You Really Got A Hold On Me

Randy watched with lustful eyes as Jenna bent down to snap Amanda's life jacket in place. The little girl took her father's hand and they went over to the shallow end of the pool. Jenna had a small smile on her face as she watched her husband and daughter giggle and play in the water. She looked around the room; Ted was sitting next to Randy. The sight of Randy made her want to roll her eyes. Deciding not to dwell on her resentment for Randy, she slowly slipped Cody's button up shirt that she was wearing over her bathing suit and dropped it on a lounge chair. She was well aware that Randy was staring at her, but at this point, she was hot and tired and just wanted to swim. Let him stare, she thought to herself, there's no way in hell he's ever getting this again.

Randy watched in amazement as she took off the long sleep shirt she was wearing and dropped it. His eyes wandered over 5'8" slender frame. Having a child had given her hips a little bit more width and her breasts seemed larger. She looked amazing in the black and white two-piece she had on. Randy was having a hard time restraining himself from rushing over to her right now, scooping her up in his arms and taking her back to his hotel room to show her once again how a real man could make her feel.

Cody noticed his friend starting at his wife. He held back a growl and resisted walking over and punching Randy in the face. Even though he had forgiven Randy for what happened between him and Jenna, it still irritated to him to know that given the chance, Randy would be all over Jenna. He wasn't worried about Jenna cheating on him, ever. He trusted her, he loved her. It was Randy that he didn't trust.

**Later That Night**

"Jenna! Why do you always take so long in the bathroom? I'm going to be late, are you almost ready?" Cody shouted at his wife through the bathroom door. Hearing no response from her, he sighed and turned his attention to his daughter, who was happily sitting on Ted's lap watching a rerun of Dora the Explorer.

"Mama needs time," Mandy said as she broke her attention away from the screen for a split second.

"Yes, I know mama needs time. But she always need time when daddy is going to be late," Cody replied.

Finally the bathroom door opened and Jenna came out. No matter how many times Cody looked at his wife, his breath was always taken away when he saw her all dressed up. She had pulled her brown hair up into a bouncy ponytail, she put subtle smoky make-up on her face. Her full lips lined in a soft pink lipstick. He felt his heart beat faster as he looked her up and down. A knee length black skirt showed off her long lean legs. He wanted to rip the soft pink button shirt off of her and run his mouth over her smooth skin. He had to snap out of it; he would get his chance at her later. He had to get to the arena right now.

"Wow," he whispered as she came over to him to kiss him on the cheek.

"When will you learn that all the time I spend in the bathroom is worth it?" she whispered in his ear.

He just nodded as he started to get lost in her brown eyes. The sound of their daughter giggling at Ted tickling her broke them out of their private moment.

"Are you ready to go, pumpkin pie?" Cody asked as Ted stood up and held Mandy out for Cody to take.

"Uh huh. Are we gonna watch daddy now, mama?" she asked Jenna.

"Well kind of. We'll sit in daddy's special room and watch him on the tv. How does that sound?" Jenna replied as she picked up Mandy's Tinkerbell backpack full of coloring books, crayons and baby dolls. This should keep her amused while I get some work done, she thought to herself.

Ted was grumbling his way through the late afternoon traffic. Jenna was starting to feel nervous the closer they got to the arena. She hadn't been backstage with Cody since she was pregnant with Amanda. Since getting back together with Cody, she had been making an effort to keep up with the gossip he brought home. Something she was particularly worried about tonight was that he had told her that Layla had gotten drafted back to the same roster that he was on—Smackdown. Jenna's blood still boiled every time she thought about that little tramp and how she had succeeded in almost breaking her and Cody up for good. She hadn't seen Layla since that night at the bar when she found out from Randy that Cody had still been seeing her, despite trying to get back together with Jenna. She smiled a little when she remembered the fearful look on Layla's face when she threw that beer bottle at her head.

They finally arrived at the arena without Ted killing them all in a car accident given the aggressive way he had been driving today. Ted was excited to be in Tampa tonight; that meant that he could drive home tonight and sleep in his own bed. The roster had the night off before they had to start driving to Mississippi. Ted planned on going home while Jenna and Cody planned on staying in Tampa and picking Ted up on their way out of town. It had been a while since Jenna and Cody had had some alone time. He had been on tour in Europe for two weeks while she stayed home in Atlanta and planned their reception with her mother. He came home two days before the big event and then the next day they were on the road again. Jenna was slowly getting used to his schedule. She had taken the opportunity to do some freelance writing while she stayed at home with Mandy. When she wasn't writing, she spent time with Michelle. Life was good.

Mandy's eyes were open wide as she followed her father into the back door of the arena and the four of them walked through the backstage area. There were so many new people to look at and new sights to take in; she found herself suddenly feeling shy and tugged on Cody's hand. "What baby?" Cody asked as Mandy put her arms up signaling that she wanted to be held. Jenna watched on nervously; maybe this was too activity for the little girl to take in all at once. Cody sensed his wife's apprehension, "She'll be fine. She'll get used to it."

They made their way to Cody's locker room, stopping every so often for Cody to say hi to a fellow wrestler. Jenna smiled politely at the men who said hello to her. She just wanted to get to the locker room so she didn't run into the chance of seeing Randy. He had recently gotten drafted to the same roster Cody was on. Of course they made him the heavy weight champion right away; he was the Viper, what he wanted, he most always got.

Cody took Mandy with him to show her around the arena. He didn't want to her be afraid of any of his co-workers, he wanted her to see that they were all just as nice as Uncle Teddy. "Jen, we'll be back in a little bit. Are you sure you don't want to come with?"

"No, I'll take this as an opportunity to catch up on some work."

Cody and Mandy left the room. She was working on her laptop for a few minutes before there was a knock on the door. She thought about not answering the door and to continue working, but decided that she had better open the door in case it was something urgent for Cody.

As soon as she opened the door, she wanted to slam it closed again. Randy Orton was standing there with a smirk on his face. "Well, hi, Jenna…..Cody left you all alone again?" he growled as he made his way into the room.

_**I don't like you, but I love you Seems I'm always, thinking of you Oh, oh, oh, you treat me badly I love you madly You really got a hold on You really got a hold on You really got a hold on You really got a hold on me**_

"What do you want, Randy?" she asked as she watched him make himself comfortable on the couch.

"Oh, you know what I want, Jenna."

"And what might that be, Randy? A new personality?"

"Ha ha. Funny girl," he said softly as he got off the couch and walked towards her. She instinctively took a step backwards. She should know better than to be walking backwards when Randy was walking towards her; because eventually her back would hit the wall and he would too close to her. This was a scene that she had gone through with him many times and she was in no hurry to repeat it anytime soon.

"Randy, I don't know why you keep doing this, but this is the last time that I'm going to ask you nicely to stop."

"Stop what, Jenna?'

"You know exactly what you're doing."

_**Baby, I don't want you, but I need you Don't wanna kiss you, but I need you Oh, oh, oh, you do me wrong now My love is strong now You really got a hold on You really got a hold on You really got a hold on You really got a hold on me**_

"And what is that? Am I making you think about how maybe you're not as happy with Cody as you once were?"

"That's ridiculous. I love Cody. I've been in love with Cody since I was 15 years old. We've been married for ten years!"

"Yeah, you two have been married that long, but how many of those years were you actually together?"

"It doesn't matter, Randy. All that matters is that we're back together, we have a baby together, we just renewed our wedding vows and we're happy. You have no chance in hell in ever getting another chance with me, so why don't you just save yourself the trouble right now, and leave me alone."

"Ooooh, someone is feisty tonight. I like that. And as much as I would love to see how much more feisty I can make you tonight, I have a match," he said softly as he walked towards the door. He placed a hand on the door handle and turned to look at her. With a sexy smirk on his face he said, "See ya around, Jen."

It was at that moment, that Jenna knew Randy was up to something. How can someone hold a grudge this long?


	10. You Owe Me

A/N: Thanks much for the reviews. Check out my profile for a picture of Jenna.

Cody and Amanda were making their way back towards his dressing room, when he heard a familiar voice behind him squeal his name. "Cody!" He groaned and turned around. It was Layla.

"Cody! Who is this adorable little girl with you?" Layla asked as she bent down to smile at Mandy. The little girl moved closer to her father, not sure what to think of this new person.

"Layla, this is my daughter, Amanda. Mandy, can you say hello to Layla?" Mandy shook her head no.

Layla giggled, "Oh, she must be shy. Hi, honey. I'm a good friend of your daddy's and I just know that soon me and you will be good friends too."

"Layla, you're supposed to keep quiet about this. I don't need Mandy to run back and tell her mom everything. She would kill me," Cody said softly as he looked around to make sure that no one was able to overhear his conversation with Layla.

"Oh, Cody. Don't worry, no one is going to find out about anything. We're so careful that half the time I even forget about what we do," she said softly with a wink.

"Yeah, I know. It's just that Jenna would kill me if she ever found out."

"Well, she won't. I promise. Where is she by the way? Did she dump the kid on you and leave?"

Cody sighed. "No. She's here; she's in my dressing room working."

"Can I see you later?" she asked softly as she took a step toward him.

He shook his head, "Too risky. She'll be going home at the end of the week. You can wait until then," he said with a wink. "I should get back to the room." Cody took his daughter's hand and led her back down the hall to where Jenna was waiting. Cody knew what he was doing with Layla was wrong; and he had tried to stop seeing her numerous times. But he couldn't, there was something about that woman that drove him to do crazy things. Like cheat on his wife. Cody kept telling himself, 'just one more and then I'll stop' but one more time always led to another time. It was a never ending vicious cycle that he couldn't break. He knew what he was doing was going to hurt his sweet wife if she ever found out, which is why he tried his best to keep her in the dark about what he was doing with Layla when he was on the road all week. The less Jenna knew, the better.

_Flashback: 18 months ago_

_Cody and Jenna had just been reunited and things were perfect. Well, they were perfect for Jenna anyways. She has recently found out that she was expecting. Cody was traveling and upset that his wife wouldn't give up her job and follow him around the country. She claimed to love him so much and that she was going to support his career and dream from here on out, but she wouldn't come on the road with him full time. She had come along a few days here and there when they first got back together; but since she found out that she was pregnant, she flat out refused to come along. _

_The nights were lonely without Jenna sleeping beside him. Cody missed her. Her soft voice on the phone every night could only do so much; it could make him feel loved and needed, but it couldn't fulfill his other 'manly urges'. _

_On one particularly lonely light without Jenna, Cody found himself sitting alone at the hotel bar. He had been drinking with some of his buddies from the roster earlier that night, but one by one they had drifted back to their own rooms, leaving Cody alone. Layla stopped by the bar shortly before last call. She had just got done with a horrible date and needed something to take the edge off of her bad luck. Imagine her surprise when she saw the long term object of her affection sitting by himself at the bar, nursing a drink and looking terribly lonely._

_She slowly hopped up on the barstool next to him. "Hey stranger," she said softly as motioned for the barkeep to bring her a drink. "What are you doing here all alone? I thought Mrs. Perfect would be here with you tonight."_

"_Jenna doesn't travel with me. She'd rather stay at home. Besides, she's pregnant now, so not only won't she come on the road with me, she won't let me touch her either. Life is fucking great!" Cody growled unhappily as he downed the rest of his drink. He knew that he had had way too much to drink tonight and that he should probably just go back to his room, call Jenna just to hear her voice, and fall asleep. He would feel better in the morning._

"_Congratulations on becoming a father. It is __**your**__ baby, isn't it?" Layla asked carefully as she took a sip of her drink._

"_Yeah. She isn't sleeping with anyone but me. She's faithful, Layla. She loves me, Layla. She finally gave in to the fact that we're meant to be together," he said bitterly and signaled the barkeep for another drink. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Cody knew that feeling depressed and lonely tonight, booze, and Layla were a dangerous combination; but at this point, he didn't care._

"_You don't sound too happy, Cody. You used to be so happy when you were with me and there was no Jenna around. You know, I could make you that happy again, but you have to let me…" she said softly as she placed a hand on his knee. Cody felt a rush of desire run through his body as he felt Layla's soft touch on his knee. He looked around to see if anyone was witnessing what was happening between him and Layla right now. Seeing no one, he leaned in closer to her, "I'm in room 117," was all he said before he threw money down on the bar to pay for his and Layla's drink and then walked out of the bar, leaving Layla to smile after him. She always knew that eventually she would get Cody back; she just had to be patient. She finished her drink and hopped off her barstool and headed out of the bar to go to Cody's room. Everything was working perfectly. She nodded to the man sitting in the corner booth who had witnessed the entire exchange between her and Cody. She smiled to herself as she found herself amazed at the sudden friendship she had just struck up with Randy Orton._

_Layla stopped by Randy's table. "What are you doing with Cody," he asked._

"_Getting what's rightfully mine. Him. I told that little bitch she didn't stand a chance; I can tell he's not happy with her. He was always happy with me."_

"_Huh. Well. I would hate for Mrs. Runnels to find out about what you're about to do with her husband….." Randy trailed off._

"_What do you want?"_

"_Hmm…a favor. Not right now, but eventually. I'm a patient man, I'll let you know when I'm ready to cash in a favor from you and in return, I'll keep my mouth shut about what you're about to do. Deal?" Randy stuck his hand out. Layla hesitated for a split second before she stuck her hand out and shook Randy's. "Deal."_

**Present Time**

Randy witnessed the little interaction between Layla and Cody. He was tired of Jenna giving him the cold shoulder. It was time to cash in his favor from Layla.


	11. You're Lying

Randy watched Layla watch Cody walk away with his daughter. The poor girl was still head over heels in love with a married man. A married man whose wife Randy lusted after. He wanted Jenna; he wanted to feel her underneath him again. He wanted to look into those dark brown eyes and see them clouded over with desire with him again. He wanted her. He didn't even mind that she had a kid now; he would deal with the kid. Maybe he could convince her to give the kid up to Cody. Randy knew this was all wishful thinking and that he didn't have a chance in hell with Jenna anymore; but a man can dream and plan.

"Layla," he growled as she stopped watching Cody and turned around to face Randy.

"Randy. How long were you standing there?" she asked nervously.

"Long enough to know that you're still sleeping with Cody."

"So. What's the big deal? That bitch Jenna isn't good enough for him. He's told me over and over again how unhappy he is with her. He even told me that sometimes he wishes that she would have just filed the divorce papers like he wanted her to. Instead, she decided that she still loved him and now she's got him trapped with a child."

"What are you going to do about it?"

"What do you mean what am I going to do about it? There isn't anything that I can do about it. He won't leave her as long as she's got that kid of his and she isn't sleeping around on him."

"Remember about a year or so ago, I promised to keep my mouth shut in return for a favor from you one day?" Layla nodded. "It's time to cash that favor in, dear. I have to know something though. How bad do you want Cody to yourself?"

"More than anything, Randy. I love him. I thought we really had something special until that little bitch came back and sank her claws into him again," Layla said sadly.

"How far would you go to get him back?"

"I would do anything."

"Get yourself pregnant by him?"

Layla was silent for a few seconds; then a small smile started to creep on her face. "What a wonderful idea, Randy. Not only would Cody be in my life forever, it would tear Jenna a part to know that her husband knocked someone else up. You are brilliant!"

"I know," Randy replied with a satisfied smirk.

"But what I don't understand, is what's in this for you? How would me getting pregnant and breaking up Cody's marriage help you in anyway?"

"Don't you see, Layla? I'm just waiting for Cody to fuck up again. All he has to do is fuck up once, and she'll be back in my arms."

Layla nodded. "I do see. But what I don't see is what you see in her," Layla said as she rolled her eyes at the thought of Jenna.

"She's perfect, that's what I see….."

**Later that Night**

"Is she asleep?" Cody asked Jenna quietly as they drove from the arena back to the hotel. It had been a long night and he was looking forward to having a drink and then going to bed.

Jenna looked in the backseat and smiled. "Yeah, little angel is sleeping."

Cody reached over and grabbed his wife's hand, his thumb stroking her soft skin. "I love you, baby,' he whispered.

"I love you too," she replied just as softly.

"I just wanted to let you know."

Jenna nodded, "I love you too," she repeated.

Jenna shut the car door behind Cody as he lifted their sleeping daughter out of the backseat. "I'll meet you inside; I'm going to grab her backpack," she said. Cody nodded and heading towards the front door of the hotel.

Jenna had just pulled out the backpack and was about to shut the trunk when she started to feel like someone was behind her. She slowly closed the trunk and braced herself, wondering why she was feeling so creeped out right now. She turned around saw Randy standing there with an evil smirk on his face.

"What the hell do you want?" she growled as she grabbed her purse from on top of the car and started to walk towards the front door of the hotel. Randy grabbed her arm. "Let go."

"No."

"Damn it, Randy. What is your problem? Why can't you just leave me alone? What part of me and Cody are back together permanently do you not understand?" Jenna snapped at him, her brown eyes flashing with anger at the man who still hand a strong grip on her slender arm.

"I know something you don't know, Jenna. Something that is going to turn your perfect little world upside down."

Jenna sighed, "Quit playing games, Randy. What do you want?"

Randy was a lot stronger than Jenna; in one swift movement he had her back up against the car, a hand on both sides of her hips, holding her in place. "I want you. And after I tell you what your perfect little husband has been up to for the past two years, you'll realize that I was right the whole time."

"You're not making any sense. Either spit out what you have to say or move."

"He's still seeing Layla."

Jenna's mouth dropped when Randy said those four little words. It couldn't be. Randy had to be lying; this had to be one of his sick games. Cody wouldn't cheat on her. They had been through so much just to get back together. He promised he had stopped seeing Layla after he ripped up the divorce papers. "You're lying," she whispered.

"I'm not lying, Jenna. What would I have to gain by lying to you about this?" Randy whispered back. His hands had moved to her hips and were resting gently on her body. She was so distracted by what Randy had just told her, that she didn't even notice his hands were touching her.

"You're a snake, Randy. You have some sort of sick obsession with breaking me and Cody up; you would say anything just to try and cause trouble between us. I have no reason to believe you."

"Believe me, sweetheart, Cody is cheating on you with Layla. I've known about it for almost two years now, but since you told me to stay out of your life, I held my tongue. Well, seeing you two together now, and seeing how unhappy you are with him, made me want to finally say something. He's cheating on you."

"You're lying."

"No, I'm not. I've known for a while now, but you've made it pretty clear that you didn't want to hear anything that I was telling you."

"You're lying," she said again softly as she moved his hands off of her and pushed her way past him. He had to be lying, Cody would never cheat on her. They had just renewed their wedding vows in front of all of their friends and family. Randy had to be lying. For the sake of her marriage, Jenna prayed that Randy was just being the snake that he is and was lying.


	12. You Don't Understand

Numbly, Jenna walked through the hotel lobby and down the hallway to the room she was sharing with Cody. She couldn't get over what Randy had just told her; he had to be lying. Cody wouldn't be cheating on her, would he? Jenna knew that Cody hadn't been pleased with her decision to stay at home while he traveled week after week, but she always made it up to him when he came home with home cooked meals and lots of loving. What reason would he have to cheat on her? Her thoughts immediately went to how manipulative Layla was; Jenna was sure that Layla was the one who initiated the secret relationship between her and Jenna's husband. But then again, Randy was a snake. Maybe he was just making this all up to get under her skin? It was possible; he still held a grudge against her for turning him down and getting back together with Cody. He had even slept with her best friend knowing that by hurting Michelle, he would hurt Jenna also.

Taking a deep breath, she unlocked the door and stepped in. She set Mandy's backpack down and walked further into the room quietly. She saw Mandy sleeping peacefully in her playpen and Cody half asleep on the chair. She walked over to her husband and took his drink from him, setting it on the end table. She crawled into his lap and pulled him close. "Hey, you," he whispered as he started to nuzzle her neck.

"Hey," she whispered back. "I love you."

"I love you, too," he whispered back immediately. Seeing the look of love and adoration in his beautiful blue eyes, she decided not to bring up what Randy had told her in the parking lot tonight. Instead, she would focus on the love they had for each other. She glanced over at the playpen and saw that their daughter was still sound asleep. She took Cody's hand and gently placed it over her racing heart. A small smile appeared on Cody's face; he knew what she wanted tonight….

The next morning, Cody untangled himself from his wife and quietly slipped out of bed to put on his workout clothes. He smiled at the sight of his wife sound asleep with a small smile on her face. Last night had been perfect; a surprise, but still perfect. He dressed quickly and grabbed his gym bag. He peeked into the playpen and saw that his daughter was still asleep also. He could definitely get in a quick workout before either of them woke up. He leaned over Jenna and kissed her softly near her ear. She stirred a little bit. "Going to the gym, I'll be back soon," he whispered in her ear. She mumbled something and nodded. Cody chuckled to himself as he thought about how Jenna didn't like early mornings. Amanda was the same way. It was hard to get either of them out of bed before nine o'clock.

Cody headed over to the hotel gym, nodding to a few of his co-workers who were also on their way. He said good morning to Randy as he started his workout routine. Randy stopped his out workout and watched Cody for a few minutes. Yes, Cody was his friend and everything, and had been for several years now, but that didn't stop Randy from lusting after his friend's wife. It was time to put his and Layla's plan into action. "Where's Layla?" Randy asked quietly.

For a split second, fear flashed in Cody's eyes before he shook his head, "How should I know?" he replied.

"Don't play dumb with me, Cody. I know what you and Layla have been doing."

"We haven't been doing anything. I haven't been with Layla in over two years."

"You know something, Codes? You are a really bad liar."

Cody sighed. He knew somehow that Randy knew what he and Layla had been doing behind Jenna's back for the past two years. "All right, Randy. So you know about Layla. What do you plan on doing about it? Are you going to run and tell Jenna so she starts screaming at me?" 

Randy smirked, "I told her last night already."

"You did what?" Cody shouted. He had to remind himself to keep his voice down otherwise the entire roster would know what he had been up to lately.

"I told Jenna last night in the parking lot. She didn't believe me though. So maybe you still have a chance of holding on to her."

"Jenna loves me. I made a mistake, but-"

"Do you love Jenna, though? It seems to me that you don't. I know if Jenna was my wife-"

"She's not, Randy."

"As I was saying, Jenna is perfect, simply perfect, for the life of me I can't figure out why you would give up someone as perfect as her for someone like Layla."

"You don't understand, Randy." Cody was starting to get frustrated; no one understood the things that Layla could make him feel and do. He craved Layla so much that he's actually been cheating on his wife for almost two years.

"No, I probably don't understand Cody. But what I do understand is that Jenna is the perfect woman. She's smart, she's beautiful, she's funny, she's everything a woman should be, and all you're doing is throwing that away. Shit, she even gave you the perfect daughter, and here you are, still running around on her. What the hell is wrong with you?" Randy growled at his friend as his blue eyes flashed with anger and annoyance at the younger man who had everything that Randy ever wanted, but took it all for granted.

"What you don't understand, Randy is that Jenna still refuses to believe in me. She still doesn't want me to wrestle and to travel. She wants a husband who is home every night. She wants someone with a nine to five job. I know she loves me, hell, I love her too, but what Jenna lacks in excitement and support for my career, is what Layla makes up for. I can see by the confused look on your face that you still don't get it. Not my problem. Actually, this whole situation isn't **your** problem anyways, so why don't you just butt out while you can and for the love of God keep your dirty mouth shut around my wife," Cody growled as he grabbed his gym bag and headed towards the exit.

Randy watched Cody make a hurried exit out of the room. He wondered where Cody was headed. Was he going to meet up with Layla and let her know that someone was on to the little game they were playing, or was he going to go back to his room and snuggle up with Jenna and try to convince her that he did in fact love her. One thing Randy knew for sure was that one day very soon, Cody's secret was going to get exposed and the emotional pain and betrayal that would ensue for Jenna would be enough to propel her back into his arms. He just had to be patient and wait for Cody to fuck it all up again.


	13. An Unwelcome Lunch Guest

Cody left the gym in a huff; why did it feel like his world was suddenly going to be flipped upside down and it was all going to be Randy's fault? He knew that he should just head back to his own room and either tell Jenna the entire truth or continue to lie to her so they could keep on with their perfect life. What he did instead, even made him sick to his stomach, he stopped at room 200 instead of room 220. He knocked on the door and waited until she answered the door. She was rubbing sleep out of her eyes and absent-mindedly pulling down on the t-shirt that served as her pajamas.

She looked genuinely surprised to see him; he had told her that they couldn't see each other while Jenna was on the road with him this week. "I knew you couldn't stay away…." she said softly as she took him by the hand and led him inside her room.

Cody wasn't in the mood for some spontaneous love making session however. He paced around the room nervously for a few minutes while Layla curled up in a chair and watched him pace. "Randy told Jenna," he finally blurted out as he sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at his secret lover.

"So?" she said quietly. She already knew that Randy was going to tell her. It was a shame that she wasn't there to see the look of shock on Jenna's face; she would have loved to see that.

"What do you mean 'so?' Do you not understand what is happening, Layla? My **wife** knows that I've been sleeping with **you**!"

"Like I said, so what? She was going to have to find out eventually, babe. I mean, she found out about the last time too, so why would this time be any different?"

"You don't get it, do you? We have to stop this right now. Because this time, not only am I going to hurt Jenna….shit if she divorces me, I'll never see my kid again."

"Cody…..I don't know what to tell you anymore. It's obvious that you're not happy with Jenna anymore. Maybe you did make a mistake by getting married at 18; maybe you weren't ready to settle down with anyone yet. I know it's been ten years now and that probably makes it hard to just walk away; but maybe that's what you need to do. Maybe it's your turn to just walk away…..just like she did."

"She left because it was the best thing for me."

"Maybe she should have stayed away then. Because, and you've said it before, she still doesn't get it. She is still standing in the way of you being truly happy with your chosen career. If she was supporting you like she promised she was going to, then you're right. She would have given up her own career and charity lunches with her mom to be on the road with you every week. She would be with you every night, instead of me." Layla knew she was hitting deep with her words; this was the first time she had suggested that Jenna only cared about herself. In the past she's always told Cody that Jenna couldn't make him happy the way that she could.

"I don't know, Layla. I need time to think. Maybe now that Mandy's a little older, she'll reconsider and come on the road with me. You know, if that happens, I have to stop seeing you altogether."

Layla crossed the room and settled on Cody's lap. "We both know that won't happen, babe," she whispered in his ear and she shifted her weight so she was now straddling his lap…..

**Later that morning**

Jenna was awoken by the nicest sound; her baby girl singing mama. Jenna sat up. "Good morning, pumpkin pie," she smiled at her little one. Jenna stood up in her playpen and reached her hands out for her mama. More than anything, Jenna would have liked to stay in bed, but seeing that it was almost ten o'clock, she decided to get Mandy up and ready for the day.

By eleven thirty, Cody still hadn't come back to the room. That wasn't like him; he was usually done with his morning workout within an hour, an hour and a half tops. She was starting to get worried about where he was. It was silly to be worried where he was, she thought to herself. She knew the only reason she was nervous about where he was right now was because of what Randy had told her last night. Pushing that awful thought to the back of her mind, she finished putting Mandy's hair in pigtails.

Another half an hour went by and still no Cody. She sighed as she tried calling his cell phone again; it still went straight to voicemail. It was past noon now. "Mama, I'm hungry," Mandy said in her little voice. Jenna nodded and said, "I know, baby. Let's find your shoes and then go get something to eat."

After grabbing her backpack full of toys to keep Mandy amused, Jenna and Mandy headed down to the hotel café. Hopefully they would run into Cody along the way, who would have a great excuse about why his normal hour long workout session was going on three hours. That nagging feeling about what Randy had told her about Layla and her husband in the parking lot last night came back in full force. She was so distracted by her thoughts that she didn't see Randy until she ran right into him.

"Oops! Mama ran into Randy! Mama sorry," Mandy giggled as Jenna shook her head from the surprise of running smack into Randy's broad chest.

"Is mama sorry?" Randy said softly as he knelt down to Mandy's eye level. "She really hurt me."

"Aw…You ok, Randy?" Mandy said as she patted Randy's chest. Randy smiled at the little girl and said thank you. He stood up and looked down at Jenna. "Isn't mama going to pat my chest and rub the owie away too?" he smirked at Jenna who immediately rolled her brown eyes at him.

"Um No. Maybe Randy should watch where he's walking."

"Feisty this morning, hey?" Randy smirked at her.

"Sure, sure. Hey, have you seen Cody?" The second those words came out of her mouth, she knew they were a mistake.

"Jenna….I told you last night what your husband has been up to, when are you going to start listening to me? Isn't it weird that all of the sudden you can't seem to find him? Where do you think he is? 

She shook her head. "I know you're lying about Cody, Randy. I don't know why, but you are lying. Cody loves me; he would never cheat on me."

"Again?"

"Shut up."

Randy chuckled, "I like it when you're feisty."

Jenna was about to reply with a snarky comeback when Mandy spoke up. "Mama, I'm hungry!" she started to whine.

"Hey, what a coincidence, I was just on my way to get some lunch. Would you two pretty ladies like to join me?" he asked as he smiled down at Mandy who immediately broke out into a huge smile when Randy called her pretty.

"Yay!" she shouted and grabbed Randy's hand and started to pull him down the hallway to the café. "Come on, mama!" she turned around and shouted at Jenna.

Jenna had no choice but to follow her daughter and Randy. It wasn't like she could very well just let Mandy take off with that snake. Jenna followed the pair down the hallway to the café; she kept looking around for signs of her husband, but he was nowhere to be found.

The hostess seated the three of them right away. There were a few other members of the roster also eating lunch, and Jenna caught the surprised looks on their faces when they saw Cody's wife and Randy walk in together and actually sit down at a table, acting almost civil to each other. The rumors would be flying soon, Jenna thought to herself.

**Back in Layla's Room**

With one final thrust and a loud moan, Cody collapsed on top of Layla. He smiled as he leaned down and kissed her swollen lips. "Layla….." he murmured.

Layla smiled to herself as he started nuzzling her neck. She glanced over to the dresser and saw the unopened condom wrapper; she had distracted him long enough for him to forget about putting it on. Everything was falling into place for Layla. Poor, poor Jenna…


	14. Should Have Said No

The lunch 'date' between Jenna and Randy was awkward. Luckily, Mandy kept the two from having to actually speak to each other. For some reason unknown to Jenna, that little girl simply adored Randy. Jenna kept noticing that Cody's co-workers were whispering to each other and casting glances and Randy and Jenna together; without Cody.

Jenna checked her cell again-still no messages or missed calls from her husband. She sighed in frustration and put her phone back in her purse. "What's the matter, Jen? No word from your 'faithful' husband yet. Seems like an awful long time to be working out. What time did you say he left you this morning?" Randy asked quietly as he colored with Mandy.

"Nine o'clock," she whispered back as she watched in amazement as the man she despised the most in the world, kept her daughter entertained and well behaved in the middle of a crowded restaurant. Not even Cody could do that.

"He must have really felt the need for a good burn," he said as he put down his crayon and looked up into Jenna's worried brown eyes. "Or maybe be got side-tracked somewhere..."

Jenna was about to respond with a sarcastic remark when someone sat down beside her. It was Ted. "Uncle Teddy!" Mandy screeched as her little face broke out into a big smile.

"Well, hey there baby girl! What are you doing?" Ted asked.

"Coloring with Randy," she said with the big smile still on her face.

"I see. Does Randy color nice?"

"No, he goes out the lines. But he tries," she said as she patted Randy on the arm to let him know that it was ok that he colored outside of the lines.

Ted chuckled, "You are a sweetheart, Mandy. Thank you for being so nice to Randy." Mandy just beamed at the attention Ted was paying to her. Ted turned to Jenna, "Where's Cody at?" he asked as he signaled the waitress to bring him a menu.

Randy watched Jenna's expression as she shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know..."

"What do you don't know? Did he run away?" he asked with a chuckle.

Randy watched as Jenna's eyes filled with tears as she shrugged her shoulders again. He smiled inside a little; he knew what he had told her last night was finally sinking in to her. He wasn't lying this time. Last time he tried to break up Cody and Jenna, he stretched the truth a little, but this time it was all on Cody.

"I mean I don't know where he is; he left this morning at nine to go work out and hasn't been back yet," Jenna said sadly.

"Everything okay between you two?" Ted whispered to her. He knew all about the knock down screaming matches they used to have with each other. He had actually witnessed two or three of them first hand and he knew how mean they could be to each other.

"I don't know. Ask Randy," she said simply, glaring at Randy.

Randy smirked. Ted sighed, "Randy...what do you know?"

"I know a lot of things Teddy my friend. So does Jenna now. But this really isn't a conversation to be having with little ears so close by."

Ted nodded; fair enough. About half an hour later, Mandy was ready for a nap. She was starting to get cranky and Jenna's patience was starting to wear thin. She still had no idea where her husband was; he wasn't answering his cell and no one had seen him. "Randy...it's almost one thirty. Where the hell is he?" she asked quietly as she carried a tuckered out Mandy back to her and Cody's room for a nap.

"You know damn well where he is Jenna."

"I still don't believe you..."

Randy stopped and looked down at her. He moved a lock of dark hair off of her shoulder, "Maybe it's time for you to start believing me Jenna." Randy smirked at her one more time before he gave a little wave good-bye and headed down the hallway to his own room, leaving Jenna lone with her daughter and her thoughts.

Jenna laid Mandy down in her playpen glancing over at the alarm clock next to Cody's side of the bed. It was almost 1:45. Cody had been gone since nine. Jenna laid down on the bed and flipped the television on, not really paying attention to what was on but instead she hoped the mindless drabble of the movie that was on would distract her from her thoughts.

* * *

><p>"Layla, I really have to go..." Cody murmured in her ear.<p>

"I don't want you to go," she whispered back as she ran her fingers down his muscular chest.

Cody held in a groan of pleasure. Jenna was going to be pissed at him; he had left earlier this morning for a workout and hadn't been back to the room or even called her since. It was after two in the afternoon now. One of two things were going to happen: she was going to be standing by the door when he got back, ready to fight or she would be gone.

"Stop thinking about her and kiss me, Cody," Layla murmured as she pulled Cody down on the bed with her.

Half an hour later, Cody was headed back to the room he was sharing with his wife. He had just taken a shower in Layla's room and hoped Jenna didn't expect anything. Cody tried to think of a good excuse for where he had been all day. Hopefully Jenna would believe it.

Cody unlocked the door and stepped inside, setting his gym bag down by the door. He looked around in amazement. The room was spotless; Jenna and Mandy's suitcases were open and Jenna was folding clothes to put back in to them. Mandy was carefully putting her toys into her TInkerbell backpack.

"Baby, what are you doing?" he asked quietly as took another step in the room. Jenna ignored him and kept folding clothes. Cody sighed and took another step closer to his wife; even his daughter didn't say anything.

"Jenna Kay, what are you doing?" he asked as he placed his hand on her lower back. She shrugged him off and turned to face him; her brown eyes were flashing with anger.

"Going home," was all she said.

"Baby, why? I thought you and Mandy were going to stay on the road with me for a week?" Cody asked as he sat down on the other bed and watched his wife zip up her suitcase and carry it over to the door.

"We wouldn't want to get in the way of you spending time with Layla," she said quietly as she took Mandy's suitcase over to the door and set it besides hers. She opened the door and walked across the hall. Ted answered the door.

"Can you take Mandy for a few minutes? I need to talk to Cody," she said nervously.

"Jenna, are you sure you want to do this? For all you know, Randy is lying to you."

"Cody just came back. It's after three in the afternoon. He's been gone since nine this morning. No one goes to the gym for six hours, Teddy," she said quietly as he followed her across the hall to her room.

Mandy was sitting on the chair in Cody's lap when they came in; she hopped off and ran into Ted's arms. "Hey baby girl! Do you want to come with Uncle Teddy to get some ice cream?" he asked. He tried to avoid Cody's eyes. He didn't want his friend to know that he knew about Jenna's plans.

Jenna watched Ted leave with her daughter then she turned to Cody. "I know," was all she said.

Cody's face fell. He knew there was no way he could lie his way out of this one. "Baby…."

She put her hand up, "No. I don't want to hear anything you have to say. How could you do this Cody? How could you do this to us? For God's sake, we just renewed our wedding vows in front of two hundred people not even a week ago!" She was trying like hell to keep her voice down. "I know everything. I knew last night, but I wasn't sure what to believe. I didn't think you would ever do this to me. To us. To Mandy. Why?" she asked with tears starting to sting her eyes.

"Jen, I'm so sorry," he whispered as he took a step towards her. She put her hand up again. "I didn't mean for it to happen."

"No, you didn't mean for me to find out. I know you've been sleeping with her since I was pregnant with Mandy. We've been through so much, Codes, but this is too much. I can't….I can't be around you right now. So I'm going to take Mandy and go home and then you can live your life on the road like you want to without a family dragging you down," she said as she started walking towards the door to pick up the suitcases.

Cody followed her, "Jen, please don't do this. I swear I'll stop seeing her; I want to make this work. You have to let me explain what happened. I made a mistake, I don't want to lose you," he said as he grabbed her arm. She looked down at his hand on her arm and moved it off of her.

"You should have thought about that Cody before you told her yes," she whispered as she picked up her and Mandy's suitcase and walked out of the room leaving Cody to do nothing but stare after his wife as she walked out on him again.


	15. I Hate You

Jenna met up with Ted down the street at a local ice cream shop. Mandy gave her mom a huge messy faced smile when she saw Jenna. "Where's daddy?" she asked as she daintily put more vanilla ice cream on her spoon.

"Daddy is working. Mama and Mandy are going to go home to Atlanta," Jenna said softly as she sat down next to Ted. He put a reassuring hand on her leg. "You ok?" he whispered; she shook her head no. She was not going to be ok after this. Cody had broken her trust and basically threw their marriage in the garbage. No, it was safe to say that she was not going to be ok.

"Oh. Daddy will be home soon?" Mandy asked.

"No, pumpkin pie; we're going to stay with Nana Alice for a while."

"But why? If we stay at Nana's we won't be there when daddy gets home from work," Mandy said as her bottom lip trembled. Jenna sighed; she knew it wasn't a good idea to try and explain this to her daughter. She was too young to understand that it didn't seem like Cody loved Jenna anymore. If he had loved her as much as he always claimed, then he never would have done this to them.

"Don't worry honey, we'll see daddy soon. But right now, let's finish your ice cream and Uncle Teddy is going to drive us to the airport. Are you ready to go on your first plane ride?" Mandy squealed with excitement, temporarily distracted from the fact that her father wasn't coming home with them and that they weren't staying with daddy and watch him wrestle.

Several hours later, Jenna carried a sleeping Mandy out of the cab and up the front steps. She thanked the cab driver for bringing the suitcases up to the porch. She unlocked the door and set her purse down. Glancing at the clock on the living room wall, she saw that it was after nine. She carefully carried a still sound asleep Mandy up the stairs and into her bedroom. Not bothering to put her pajamas on, she just took off her little shoes and covered her up with a blanket. She stopped by the bedroom door before leaving the room, looking at the little angel her and Cody had created out of love. How could he do this to them? Why did it feel like he had turned his back on them? Shaking her head, Jenna headed downstairs to grab the suitcases off of the porch. She had a long night ahead of her.

Jenna had just settled on the couch when her phone rang. She sighed as she looked at the caller id. It was Cody.

"Hello," she said softly.

"Hey," he said just as softly.

Silence. "What do you want, Cody?"

"Jenna, I am so sorry, I didn't mean for it to happen…."

"Why do I doubt that, Cody? I could forgive you and move on rather quickly if it had happened just once. But you've been doing this for two years…..did I really make you that unhappy? What is it about Layla that you just can't seem to stay away from?" she asked as she wiped tears from her face, grateful he wasn't there to see her break down.

"Jen, you've always made me happy-"

"Then why are you doing it, Cody? Why are you still sleeping with her? You promised me that when you ripped up the divorce papers that it was over with her. You promised that it was just going to me and you from now on. And then when Amanda Jean came along, you promised it was just going to be the three of us. Why did you do it?" her voice caught as a sob rose up in her throat.

"I…." he stuttered.

"Just say it Cody. There is something wrong with me that Layla makes up for, isn't there? What is it?"

"She believes in me. She takes an actual interest in my dream," he finally blurted out.

"I believe in you, Cody…." she whispered.

"No you don't Jenna. If you really did as much as you say you do, you would be on the road with me, not at home doing charity lunches with your mom and acting like I don't exist until I come home."

"Excuse me? I'm at home raising **our** daughter. **Someone** has to be the one to give her a stable home life; and we both know that you aren't interested in doing that!" Jenna said as she started to raise her voice. It was the beginning of one of their famous shouting matches.

"Bullshit, Jen. You don't want to come on the road with me because you still think that what I'm doing with my life is a waste of time. It doesn't matter what you say, I know you. I know you don't give a shit about what I'm doing. You want someone who is home every night. You want someone to bring home a steady paycheck and to go to all of your stupid social functions with you. You want to live your life like the **princess** that you are," he growled. Cody was starting to get upset as well; all of the frustration he had felt over the past two years was starting to bubble up to the top. He knew was treading dangerous waters when he started calling her princess.

"Don't call me princess," she snapped at him.

"Isn't that what you are? You finally got what you always wanted, Jenna. You get to sit at home, raising babies and having lunch with your stuck up friends!"

Jenna let out a small scream. "I can't do this anymore, Cody. I've been doing this for fifteen years—"

"Oh, here we go again. Jenna the victim; poor Jenna Kay's husband is professional wrassler and is never home anymore. Poor Jenna Kay has to raise her little princess daughter all alone while her worthless husband is out getting kicked in the head for a living. Such a shame! Well, maybe we should have filed those papers instead of ripping them up. Then you can go on with your life and I can go on with mine! Would you like that, princess? Do you want your damn freedom that bad?" he was shouting at this point, pacing around his hotel room.

"I hate you. For the first time in my life, Cody Runnels, I think I hate you. Mandy and I will be out tomorrow morning. File the damn papers. Sign them this time too," she snapped as she hung up the phone and stared at it before she started bawling like a baby.

…..

Cody hung up the phone and stared it; then he started cursing himself for being so stupid. He should have just told Layla 'no' two years ago, he should have just stayed faithful to his wife. He should have begged for her forgiveness instead of picking a fight with her. Was she really serious when she said to file the divorce papers? They had been through so much; wasn't there a way for them to work this out?

This was Randy's fault. If Randy just would have kept his mouth shut, Jenna never would have found out…


	16. Moving Out

Randy walked down the hallway of the hotel with a smirk on his face. He had just walked by Cody and Jenna's door and had heard Cody yelling at someone while he was on the phone. He wondered if it was Jenna on the other end of the line. He had heard from Ted that Jenna took the kid and went home this afternoon after she finally believed him when he said that Cody was cheating on her. He listened with amusement as Cody started yelling about filing for divorce. Everything was turning around for Randy and he was poised to make his move.

Randy wanted to fly to Atlanta and wipe the tears from Jenna's face. He wanted to be there for her to lean on while her marriage fell apart, and worm his way into her life and ultimately her bed; but he had a match tonight and wouldn't be able to get any time off until tomorrow night. But first he had to think of a way to get her to actually answer the phone or open the door to him. Soon, Jenna, soon, he thought to himself.

"Jenna Kay. What do you mean you're moving out?" Alice asked worriedly. Her only daughter had shown up with Mandy this morning, her tear streaked face immediately made Alice wonder what happened now. Alice led Mandy into the sun room to play while Jenna helped herself to a cup of coffee and sat down at the kitchen table.

Alice came back into the kitchen and sat down next to her daughter. "Now, tell me what happened? Did you and Cody have a fight?" she asked with concern in her voice.

Jenna shook her head. "He cheated on me," she said softly as tears started to form in her eyes.

"Oh, Jenna Kay. I'm so sorry. Are you sure that divorce is the answer though? Maybe you need to talk to him about him it and have him reassure you that it won't happen again." Alice had become rather fond of Cody since Amanda was born; she thought her son in law had finally stepped up as a man and was ready to take care of his growing family. Apparently, she was wrong.

"It's too late, mom. I can't trust him anymore…."

"Jenna. I shouldn't have to tell you that marriage has its ups and downs. You and Cody know that more than anybody. Are you sure this isn't something you two can work through? I'd hate for you two to throw away ten years of marriage over a little…..extra activity that Cody did-"

"Mom, he's been doing this for two years."

Alice was silent for a moment. "Two years? That means…." she trailed off as Jenna nodded.

"He was sleeping around on me when I was pregnant with Mandy," Jenna squeaked out before her voice broke off with a sob. She laid her head down on the table and let the tears flow freely; her life was spinning out of control and she couldn't understand why. Everything had been so perfect up until now. What did Layla have that Jenna didn't, she wondered to herself.

Alice patted her daughter's shoulder and murmured in her ear that it would be ok. "Daddy and I are here for you and Mandy. Anything you need, you let us know, princess," she said softly. Jenna stiffened a little at the word 'princess'; Cody called her princess when he was angry and frustrated with her while her parents called her princess as a term of endearment.

Jim chose that moment to come into the kitchen. "When did Mandy and Jenna Kay get here…." he trailed off as he came into the room and saw his wife comforting a sobbing Jenna. "Princess, what's wrong?" he asked softly as he sat down next to Alice, his face full of concern.

Neither woman said anything for a few seconds. Finally, Alice spoke up. "Jimmy, it seems that our in son in law has been engaging in some….extracurricular activities while he's been on the road and Jenna just found out tonight."

"That son of a bitch. Jenna Kay, I warned you about him and his career."

"Jimmy, stop. Jenna had no idea that this was happening."

"How long has this been going on, Jenna Kay?" her father asked her.

"Two years," she whispered.

"So you're telling me, that little son of a bitch has been sleeping around on you for two years while you stayed here and took care of little Amanda?" he asked with his voice full of anger. He was careful to keep the volume of his voice down so his granddaughter wouldn't hear. He wasn't sure what Jenna had told the little girl about her father yet, and in case she hadn't had the chance to explain to her, he didn't want to break the news this way.

Jenna nodded. "Daddy, I'm such a fool. After everything that we've been through, he does this to me. Is….is….there something wrong with me?" Jenna managed to get out before a sob wracked her slender body.

"Princess, there is **nothing** wrong with you. You are so beautiful and smart and so kind to everyone that you meet. Cody is a damn fool if he can't see that. I know you loved him when you were teenagers and that's why you got married, and that love is what brought you two back together again after so many years apart. But maybe now that you're both older and he's wrapped up in his career, maybe this won't be able to work itself out. Have you thought about filing for divorce?" Jim asked softly.

Jenna just stared at her father. "I told Cody to file the papers and sign them. I think it's over. I don't want it to be over. I've loved for almost half my life, I don't want to lose him," she whispered as she wiped tears from her face with the back of her hand.

"I know, princess. But do you really want to be married to a man who can't take his wedding vows seriously? He just stood up in front of all of our friends and family and promised to love you for the rest of his life; all the while he was still sleeping around on you. I think that when he files the papers, you should sign them right away and then let your father bring them down to the courthouse. Because the last time this happened, neither you or Cody could bring yourselves to do it. He doesn't deserve you, sweetheart. You're too good for him; we've always thought that," Alice said as she stood up from her chair and started cleaning tissues off of the table.

Jenna nodded. "I think I should go home and lay down. I didn't sleep very well last night," she said softly as she got up from the table and started to head into the sun room to get Mandy.

"Jenna Kay, little Mandy can stay here if you need some time to yourself," her mother said softly.

"Thank you, mom," she said as she went into the other room to tell Mandy that she was going to spend the day with Nana and Gramps.

"Dad, just tell me if you've talked to her. I know you've got some great stories to tell me about your wonderful relationship with Dustin, but seriously, I just need to know if my wife stopped over or called you," Cody snapped into the phone. He was having a hard time tracking down his wife. He called the house with no answer; he called her cell phone but it went straight to voicemail. He decided to call his father's house before he even thought about calling her mother's house. Damned if he was going to call there and get an earful from Jim Andrews.

"Cody, I haven't seen or talked to the lovely Jenna since you two picked up my little spark plug the other morning. Besides, I thought the two girls were coming on the road with you for a few days," Virgil replied in his soft southern voice.

Cody sighed. He might as well tell his father what he had been up to before he found out from Jim Andrews; who Cody was sure already knew about Layla and was fit to be tied about the whole situation. It surprised Cody a little bit that Jim hadn't tracked him down yet, screaming for his head. "I made a mistake, dad. I mean, I really fucked up."

"Son, it can't be that bad, what happened now?"

"I cheated on Jenna."

"With who?"

"Layla."

Virgil groaned. "Damn it, boy. Now why did you go off and do that? Can't you stay away from that devil woman? I thought you and Jenna were finally happy with each other. How long ago did this happen?"

"For the past two years," Cody mumbled and closed his eyes and waited for his father to start yelling.

"You're a damn fool, son. A damn fool. Why would you cheat on that pretty wife of yours?"

"I don't know, dad. I just don't know. It was obviously a mistake and I'm really sorry about it, but I don't know. It just happened one night and kept happening."

"You're not only a damn fool, you're a damned idiot."

"I know."

"So. What are you going to do to fix this?"

"I have no idea. She told me to file for divorce if I wanted to keep sleeping with Layla."

"And do you?"

"Not really. I just want Jenna to be excited for me; I want her to understand the passion and excitement I have for this business. Jenna just doesn't get it; but Layla does, dad. What the hell am I going to do? It's not like we can just break up and pretend like this never happened. We have to think about Mandy."

"You're damn right you need to think about that baby. I don't understand how you could do this, son. I really don't. How did she find out? Please don't tell me she caught you in the act. I will disown you so fast that your head will spin if that darling little spark plug of a granddaughter of mine saw you getting it on with that Layla woman."

Despite everything that was happening right now, Cody found a small smile appearing on his lips as he listened to the way his dad talked; he sure had a way with words. "Randy told her."

"Son, I'm only going to tell you this once. Do whatever you can to fix your marriage with Jenna. Get rid of Layla; ask to switch rosters if you have to. Because if your 'friend' Randy told Jenna about Layla, you know that is only going to mean trouble. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, dad I know what you're saying. Randy's been after Jenna ever since he met her, and he will **not** ever get his hands on her. I swear, he won't."


	17. Back at One

Later that night, Cody was able to convince management that he had a family emergency and needed to fly back to Atlanta for the next morning; his wife moving out was definitely an emergency. He was nervous as his flight landed and he took a cab across town to the home he and Jenna had lived in for the past three years. He took his bag out of the trunk, paid the cab driver and walked up the front steps. Her car was in the driveway, so she hadn't left yet. Cody prayed that she would at least listen to him before leaving with Mandy.

He unlocked the front door and walked into the house, setting his travel bag by the hall closet. "Jenna?" he called out as he walked into the kitchen; she wasn't there so he headed upstairs to their bedroom. He stopped at the top of the stairs and listened to the music that playing rather loudly. Unfortunately, it wasn't playing loud enough to cover the sound of Jenna crying. The door was cracked open a bit, so Cody peeked in and watched his wife sitting on the floor, her back towards the door, surrounded by photographs. Cody's heart ached when he realized the song that she was listening to on repeat. She stopped sobbing for a few seconds before the song started again.

_**It's undeniable... that we should be together... It's unbelievable how I used to say that I'd fall never The basis is need to know, if you don't know just how I feel, Then let me show you now that I'm for real... If all things in time, time will reveal... Yeah...**_

Cody watched her pick up a photo and look at it longingly. He could just about make out the picture that she was holding since her back was to him and she had no idea that he was watching her. A very small broke out onto his face and his heart rate picked up when he realized that it was a picture from their senior year Homecoming dance. That was the dance that Jenna was crowned Homecoming Queen. That was also the year that they had lost their virginity together. The tiny smile on Cody's face got a little bit bigger as he remembered the Homecoming dance just over ten years ago.

.

.

.

_Flashback_

"_Cody, listen to this song," Jenna said softly in his ear. He listened closely and smiled before taking her hand and leading her out onto the dance floor. They were just about to start dancing, when a classmate came over to congratulate her on being crowned Homecoming Queen tonight. "Thank you," she said modestly as she put her arms around Cody's neck and pulled him closer to her._

_**One... you're like a dream come true...Two... just wanna be with you...Three... girl it's plain to see... that you're the only one for me... Four... repeat steps one through three.. Five... make you fall in love with me... If ever I believe my work is done... then I start Back at One (yeah)**_

"_Jenna, in seven months you are going to make me the happiest guy in Georgia," he murmured into her ear._

"_I love you so much, Cody. Promise me nothing is ever going to tear us apart," she whispered back and she pulled him down for a soft kiss._

"_I promise baby, I'll never hurt you on purpose…"_

_End of Flashback_

.

.

.

.

Cody's chest ached with the thought of that memory. He had wished that night would have never ended; it was a perfect night. She looked so beautiful in her formal dress and soft brown hair pulled back. She felt so good in his arms; all the other guys at school were so jealous of him. He had managed to make Jenna Kay Andrews, Homecoming Queen and head cheerleader, fall in love with him.

What did he do? How could he have been so stupid? He opened the bedroom door slowly and Jenna turned around at the soft squeaking noise.

_**So Incredible... the way things work themselves out... And all emotional, once you know what it's all about babe... And undesirable... for us to be apart... Never would of made it very far... Cause you know that you've got the keys to my heart Cause...**_

She started to put the photographs back into their box. She wiped her eyes and slowly stood up. "What are you doing here, Cody? Shouldn't you be with Layla?" she said angrily.

Cody sighed, "Jenna, please don't start. I came to talk to you….." he said as he took a step closer to her; she instinctively took a step backwards. He sighed, but this time in frustration; she was pissed at him, he understood that, but at one point they had loved each other so much that it hurt. He needed to make her feel that way again.

"About what?" she said as she sat down on the bed they've shared for so many years and crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"About what? How about us? What are we going to do? I love you….i don't want a divorce. I want you."

"If you wanted me so bad, Cody, why are you still sleeping with **her**?" she asked with her voice full of contempt.

_**One... you're like a dream come true Two... just wanna be with you Three... girl it's plain to see... that you're the only one for me Four.. .repeat steps one through three Five... make you fall in love with me If ever I believe my work is done... then I start Back at One...**_

"I'm sorry….it was a mistake. I promise it won't happen again. Please forgive me….." he whispered as he took her hands into his. His blue eyes were searching her dark brown eyes, looking for a sign that she would forgive him and they could move on.

"No."

"What?"

"I said no. I can't…I can't be with you right now. Not after I find out that you've been sleeping with her for two years. What does she have that I don't, Cody?" she asked softly as she bit her bottom lip, trying to hold back the tears that were forming in her eyes.

_**Say farewell to the dark of night... I see the coming of the sun... I feel like a little child... whose life has just begun... You came and breathed new life Into this lonely heart of mine...You threw out the life line... just in the Nick of Time...**_

"You can't mean that, Jen. You can't. We've been together for almost fifteen years; you can't just throw it all away—"

"You mean like you did, Cody? You threw it all away, everything you and I had built together, just so you could get laid while you were on the road. My dad was right. You are a loser. He told me you were going to do-"

"Oh! Here we go! The truth finally come out! Princess Jenna went crying to her daddy and he told her what she wanted to here. Don't you ever get tired of being a princess-"

"Stop calling me princess!" she screamed at him.

"That's what you are and that's why I did what I did with Layla. She's real, Jenna. She's independent and doesn't need her mama and daddy to fall back on. She can make her own decisions. For God's sake, Jen, you are twenty eight years old. I bet right after you got home, the first place you ran to was your mama's house, wasn't it?" he shouted back at him.

"I hate you. I hate you so much right now, Cody," she snarled at him as she started to walk away from him. He caught her arm and pulled her close to her. He was about to lean down and claim her mouth in a hard kiss, when she reached up and slapped him hard across the face. He was stunned for a few seconds; she had put a lot of anger and hurt behind that slap.

"Two can play at this game, Jenna. I hate you too!" he shouted at her as he pushed her away from him. He went over to his closet and pulled out a suitcase and started throwing his clothes in. "I can't do this anymore! I've been doing this for ten years; when you grow up, you come talk to me. Until then, stay the hell away from me!"

Jenna let out a loud scream before she threw a hairbrush at him; it missed his head by a few centimeters. "You're fucking crazy, Jenna," he growled at her as he finished putting the last of his clothes in to his suitcase and zipped it up. "I'm filing for divorce Monday morning. You aren't getting shit and don't even think for a damn second that you're getting full custody of Amanda."

"I hate you. I hate you so fucking much. I can't believe I married you. You are nothing but a loser. Go ahead and try to find someone better than me, Cody, I dare you. No one wants your loser ass except me," she screamed back at him. "And go ahead and file for divorce. I'll sign the papers right away. I can't be married to someone who doesn't take his marriage vows seriously. And as for **my** daughter, you are **not ** ever, and I mean **ever** going to get custody of her, you asshole!"

Cody shook his head. "You're a bitch, Jen," he growled as he grabbed his suitcase and walked out of the room. This was not how he wanted today to go; he had intended to come back home and beg for her forgiveness. But instead, he had told her he was filing for divorce and threatened to take their daughter away from her. His dad was right; he was a damned idiot.


	18. Patient Man

Cody stomped down the stairs and threw his suitcase on the couch. He started pacing back and forth in the living room; he wasn't sure what to do right now. He couldn't get a flight out until tomorrow morning and he wasn't expected to be back at work for a few days, he was stuck at home. Maybe he should just go to his dad's house until he can get out of town.

His thoughts were interrupted by Jenna coming down the stairs with Mandy's Tinkerbell suitcase and a box of her baby dolls. "What are you doing?" he asked her as she ignored him and walked right by him and into the kitchen. He followed her. "Um, hello, I asked you a damn question, Jenna. What do you think you're doing with my daughter's suitcase?"

She turned quickly and glared at him; Cody had never seen her eyes so dark with anger in all of the years that had been together as they were right now. "I'm taking some of Mandy's things to my mother's house."

"Why?"

She ignored him and starting searching the cabinets for her sippy cups. "Jenna, I asked you a damn question—"

"Stop yelling at me!" she shouted at him, causing him to take a step back. He shook the split second of fear off and took a step towards her, causing her to take a step back. He kept walking towards her until her back was flush against the refrigerator. He put his hands on either side of her hips to holder her there.

"I'm not yelling at you," he said softly. "I keep asking you questions and you keep ignoring me. Now, let's try this again. Where are you going with Mandy's suitcase?"

"She's staying at my mother's for a few days while I finish packing up," Jenna said as she looked down at the floor. She knew if she looked in Cody's eyes she might lose her nerve and say she was sorry.

"Why your mother's? Why can't she stay with my dad?"

"Stop, Cody. Really, just stop arguing with me. My mom offered to take her for a few days while I have some time to myself."

"Awww…..poor princess needs some 'me' time," Cody said as he rolled his eyes.

"Shut up, Cody," she growled at him as she tried to move away from him. He caught her arm and pushed her back up against the refrigerator.

"Stay put," he said menacingly.

She looked at him with a look of shock on her face. He had never been violent towards her; in fact he had always treated her gently, even when they would get into their knock-down, drag out arguments, he never laid a hand on her.

"Move."

He shook his head and moved closer to her; his strong body was pressed up against her slender body. He was so close to her that he swore he could feel her heartbeat against his own chest. "No…..Jenna, I don't know why we're doing this to each other. I know you don't hate me. I don't hate you. I know you love me as much as I love you right now-"

"If you loved me, Cody, you wouldn't have been cheating on me with Layla."

"Can't you ever just shut up and let me talk?" he mumbled as he pushed some hair out of her face. She recoiled at the feeling of him touching her. "I'm trying to apologize here, Jen, I don't want a divorce, I love you…I don't want to lose you or Mandy."

"You should have thought about that a long time ago," she snapped back.

"Is this what you want? Do you want to fight with me? Do you want me to scream at you so you can go back to the courts and say that I'm abusive and you're scared of me? You know that's not true, Jen. You know that I would never lay a hand on you. I love you."

"No, you don't Cody. If you had loved me as much as you say you do, you would have kept your marriage vows instead of hopping into bed with Layla. It's over. If you don't file the papers on Monday, I will."

Cody smirked. "Yeah, we both know how that will turn out," he said as he rolled his eyes and moved away from her. She glared at him.

"Whatever, Cody," she mumbled as she moved away from him and opened the cupboard to try and locate Mandy's missing sippy cup. Cody sat down at the kitchen table and watched his wife stretch and try to reach the top shelf. He found a smile forming on his mouth as he watched her tank top rise up in the back, exposing a section of smooth tanned skin. Cody felt those lustful urges rising up in him. Moving quickly and silently he crossed the room and stood behind her, placing his hands on her hips; he felt her tense up. "Stop…." she whispered as she stopped trying to stretch and reach. She put her hands on the counter and waited for him to move. He moved her hair off of her neck and leaned down to kiss her soft skin. He felt her relax a little bit under his kiss.

"Don't be mad at me, baby. This is ridiculous; we shouldn't be fighting like this….." he murmured as he kept kissing the back of her neck, his lips gradually moved to the side. He knew that if he could get at her neck with his gentle kisses, she would forget everything and give in to him.

She removed his hands from her hips and turned around to look at him. "Please stop. I can't…I can't do this with you, knowing that you've done the same thing with **her**," she said with tears starting to shine in her eyes.

"Baby….." he whispered as he moved in to kiss her on the mouth. She put her hand up to stop him.

"No," she whispered as she moved away from him. "It's over, Cody…" she said softly as she grabbed Mandy's suitcase and box off the table and walked out the back door, leaving Cody more confused than ever. He knew he should do the right thing and break it off with Layla for good; but he tried that before and he kept coming back to her. She had something that he craved. But at the same time, he didn't want to lose his sweet Jenna forever and risk her ending up in the arms of another man after he loved her for so long. He especially didn't want to see her end up in the arms of a certain Viper…..

.

.

.

Randy was stretched out on a lounge chair beside the hotel pool. He had a rough night last night, and all he wanted to do was doze off, but someone had other plans. Someone sat down next to him and cleared their throat. He silently groaned, took of his sunglasses and looked at the intruder. It was Layla.

"What," he growled.

"He went home today," was all she said.

"So."

"What if he decides not to divorce her?"

"She will. Cody fucked up royally; he broke her trust. Trust is something very important to her."

"Well, I'm still nervous."

"Don't be."

"How can you be so sure that they're going to break up for good this time?" she asked.

Randy chuckled, "Because. Good things come to those who wait. You just need to learn to be patient, Layla," he said softly as he put his sunglasses back on and laid back in his lounge chair again. Randy wasn't normally a patient man; but when it came to the beautiful Jenna, he could be very patient.


	19. I Love You This Much

Jenna wiped the tears from her cheeks as she pulled into the driveway of her parents. She couldn't let Mandy see her break down like this. She quietly opened the front door and walked quietly through the kitchen and into the living room. A smile broke out on to her face as she watched her mom and Mandy sitting in a chair together reading a book.

"_**Little Nutbrown Hare was going to bed held on tight to Big Nutbrown Hare's very long ears. He wanted to be sure that Big Nutbrown Hare was listening. "Guess how much I love you" he said. "I don't think I could guess that" said Big Nutbrown Hare. "This much" said Little Nutbrown Hare stretching out his arms as wide as he could go." Big Nutbrown Hare have even longer arms. "But I love you this much" he said."**_

Mandy giggled as her grandmother stretched out her arms to show her how much she loved Mandy. Jenna leaned against the wall and listened to her mom read. She started to think about Cody and how they used to tease each other about who love who more. She wiped a wayward tear away thinking of how they used to be, and what they've become as of late.

"_**I love you as I high as I can hop" laughed Little Nutbrown Hare, bouncing up and down. "But I love you as high as I can hop" smiled Big Nutbrown Hare-and he hopped so high that his ears touched the branches above. "That's good hopping", thought Little Nutbrown Hare. "I wish I could hop like that". "I love you all the way down the lane as far as the river", cried Little Nutbrown Hare. "I love you across the river and over the hills", said Big Nutbrown Hare."**_

It seemed to Jenna that Cody was running hot and cold on her. One minute he was apologetic and desperate to save their marriage; the next minute he was screaming at her and telling her that he hated her. She was terribly confused; while she still loved him with her whole heart, she wasn't sure if she could forgive him for what he's been doing with Layla. He swore up and down when they got back together for good, that he wouldn't see her anymore; he swore that Jenna was the only woman he wanted. Cody lied.

Jenna silently crept into the living room and sat down on the chair across from the room and listened to her mom read to Mandy.

"_**That's very far," thought Little Nutbrown Hare. He was almost too sleepy to think anymore. Then he looked beyond the thornbushes, out into the big dark night. Nothing could be farther than the sky. "I love you right up to the moon" he said and closed his eyes. "Oh that's far,' said Big Nutbrown Hare. "That's very, very far" Big Nutbrown Hare settled Little Nutbrown Hare into his bed of leaves. He leaned over and kissed him goodnight. Then he laid down close by and whispered with a smile. "I love you right up to the moon-and back".**_

Mandy clapped he chubby little hands when Alice finished the book. Alice had seen her daughter creep into the room a few minutes ago, but didn't say anything. Alice whispered into her granddaughter's ear, "Mandy, look who's here…" Mandy looked around the room with her big brown eyes and her little face broke out into a big smile. "Mama!" she shouted as she hopped off of Nana's lap and flung herself into Jenna's waiting arms. Jenna held onto her baby girl tight; reminding herself that she and Cody had made this angel out of love and she should be enough to keep them together.

_Flashback_

_Jenna had been feeling sick lately and tired. So very, very tired. Her and Cody had been back together officially for almost three months now; life was once again perfect for Jenna. Cody had been on the road for a week and he was coming home tonight. She missed him; she missed feeling him beside her at night when she reached out for a strong arm to hold her. She missed snuggling next to him on the couch while they watched a movie; his strong arm around her, his soft kisses on her neck. She missed the way he grumbled about having to mow the lawn; she missed the way he looked when he finished mowing and he came into the kitchen for a drink of water, sweaty and smelling of fresh cut grass, he made her giggle when he tried to pull her in for a hug and a kiss before taking a shower. She just missed being with him._

_She wandered around the kitchen, glancing at the clock every so often to see if it was close to the time to pick her husband up from the airport. Sadly, it was only a few minutes from the last time she looked at the clock. Her gaze fell onto the calendar beside the clock and her heart skipped a beat. It couldn't be! Was it that many days late? Jenna hurriedly did some calculations in her head and smiled when she realized the dates lined up._

_She grabbed her car keys and headed outside; she needed to get to the pharmacy….._

_Half an hour later, tears of joy streamed down her face; the two pregnancy tests she had just taken confirmed it. Her and Cody were expecting a baby. She called her doctor's office to make an appointment. She paced around the house, waiting for the clock to finally strike five o'clock so she could leave for the airport._

_Later that night, over a homemade dinner, she found the perfect time to tell her husband the good news. "Cody….."_

"_Yeah, baby?" he replied distractedly as he took a drink of his beer._

"_I have something to tell you," she said quietly._

_Cody was immediately put on edge; was she telling him that she was leaving again? He couldn't deal with that again; they had worked so hard to put everything behind them. "And what's that?" he asked carefully, as he braced himself for bad news._

_A small smile started on her face and she blushed. Cody's heart rate slowed down; she's smiling, this must be good news, he thought to himself._

"_I'm pregnant," she said simply, waiting for his reaction._

"_You're what?" he asked softly, it wasn't sinking in what she had just told him._

"_We're having a baby," she whispered._

_He was silent for a few seconds before he jumped out of his chair and pulled her in for a big hug, swinging her around once before he set her down and kissed her passionately on the mouth. "I can't believe this.." he murmured in her ear. "A baby?" he asked as his hand traveled down to her still flat stomach._

_She nodded. "I love you so much, Jen," he whispered as he pulled her in for a big hug. "I promise. I promise that I'm going to always take care of you and baby. No matter what; I promise I'll never do anything to hurt you…..I love you so much," he whispered in her ear as he gently tilted her chin in his hand to look up at him. "I promise….."_

_End of Flashback_

.

.

"You said what to her," Virgil asked as he stared at his son in disbelief. After Jenna had walked out on him, he drove to his father's house for some advice. Unfortunately for Cody, his father thought he was a damned idiot right now.

Cody sighed and told his dad what he had said to Jenna in anger earlier today. "I told her that I was finally for divorce, that I hated her and that she wasn't getting custody of Mandy," he said softly as he looked down at the floor. He knew he dad was staring at him in disbelief.

"Cody….Cody, I don't understand. Where is all this anger coming from?"

Cody shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know, dad. She said she hated me, so I guess I just reacted and said that I hated her too and that she was a stuck up princess that-"

"Hold on. You called her 'princess'? You were just looking for a fight when you said that, son."

Cody nodded. "I know. And now she's pissed as hell at me and she said that if I she couldn't trust me anymore and that if I didn't file for divorce, she would do it herself."

"So what are you going to do? Are you going to actually file for separation or are you going to be a man and make your marriage work?" Virgil asked softly after he and his son sat in silence for a few minutes.

"I want to make this work, dad, I really do. But I have a feeling that I she isn't going to take me back. I really messed up. I broke her trust. She trusted me when I was out on the road every night instead of at home with her."

"Well, son. It looks like you need to make a decision. Do you want to be on the road living your dream, or do you want to be at home with that pretty wife of yours?"

Cody looked at his father in shock. Was he suggesting that he stop wrestling and get a normal nine to five job? "I don't understand."

Virgil sighed. "Son, there comes a time in a man's life when you need to decide if following your dream is the right path to take, or if being a husband and father is more important. Which is more important to you?"

"I…I don't know. I don't understand why I can't have both."

Virgil chuckled. "That's because life isn't fair, son. Sometimes it just isn't fair…."


	20. Falling Apart

Cody actually contacted an attorney and started divorce proceedings. He had to find a lawyer in Atlanta; no lawyer in Marietta wanted to touch his case against Jim Andrews' daughter. He even had a hard time finding someone in Atlanta that didn't know Jim.

Cody was driving home, the unsigned divorce papers sitting in the passenger seat, tormenting him. He didn't want to divorce Jenna; but she made it pretty clear that she couldn't trust him anymore. He still loved, he was always going to love her; but she was being stubborn. Jenna and Mandy moved in with Michelle and refused to take his calls or answer the door when he came by. At least his estranged wife wasn't trying to keep their daughter away from him; not yet anyways. Cody was sure that once Alice and Jim started filling her head with ideas and lies about Cody's ability to be a good father to his daughter.

Jenna had agreed to let Cody have Mandy overnight tonight since he was home for a few weeks. He was 'out on injury' for a while. He had talked to management about what was going on and requested some vacation time. Amazingly enough, they granted the request for leave so he could deal with his domestic situations.

He cringed as he thought about the phone call he had made to Jenna to let her know that he would be home for a few weeks. He had been trying to track her down all day and he finally found her at Michelle's house. It took a few minutes before she actually came on the phone; he could faintly hear Jenna and Michelle arguing about whether or not she should talk to Cody. Michelle must have won, because his wife came on the phone.

"What do you want, Cody," she said sharply.

"Well, hi to you to Jenna."

She sighed. "What do you want?" she said softly.

"I'm home for a couple weeks; I was hoping we could sit down and talk about-"

"There's nothing to talk about, Cody. You were supposed to file the papers and then we would be done."

"I don't want to be done, Jen."

"Well, you should have thought about that before you started sleeping with Layla."

"Jenna, please stop. This is getting old. I made a mistake. I'm admitting it and I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I don't want to lose you and Mandy...can we please talk about this?"

Silence. "Jenna, are you still there?"

"Yeah, I'm here," she whispered. "Cody...I just don't know. I don't think I can trust you anymore and you know how important trust is in a marriage."

"But, Jen, I'm sorry and I love you so much. Please..."

"Cody, file the papers."

He sighed. It was no use to try and talk to her when she's in a stubborn mood like right now. "We'll talk about this later. Can I see Mandy since I'm in town?"

Silence. "I guess so."

"What do you mean, I guess so. Jenna, Amanda is my daughter too."

"I know that. She's at my mother's house."

Cody held in a groan; he was going to have to go the Andrews' home and face Jim and Alice? For a split second he thought of saying never mind, he didn't want to see Mandy, but then he thought of her cute little face and her little giggle. "Can you call them and tell them that I'm coming to get her for the night?"

"I suppose."

Cody hated it when his wife chose to be difficult. "Thank you, Jenna." She hung up.

.

.

_**Two Weeks Later**_

Cody's time home went by quickly; he spent as much time with Mandy as he could. He dropped the divorce papers off with Jenna at Michelle's house. She refused to come to the door, so Michelle said she would give them to Jenna.

"She's not going to forgive me, is she Michelle?" Cody asked softly with pain in his eyes. Michelle looked back inside the house and closed the door behind her as she stepped out onto the porch. She walked over to the railing.

"Cody, what you did was pretty unforgivable. Why did you do that with that other woman?"

"I...I don't know. Layla gives me something that Jen can't."

"What's that?"

"I don't know how to explain it. It's like Layla understands what it's like to be on the road all the time and she understands the excitement of the crowd and what a thrill it is to perform every night. Jenna doesn't seem to understand it."

Michelle nodded. "That's true. But Jenna's your wife. She supports you no matter what. Wasn't that why you two got back together in the first place? Because she finally agreed to support you? Sure, she might not be able to come on the road with you every week. But think about it, Codes. Someone has to take care of that little Mandy; you can't expect her to try and make a stable life for Mandy if she's traveling with you, a different city every night. What kind of life is that for a child? I think...I think that Jenna made a huge sacrifice to decide to stay home with Mandy. Think about her for a second. She's all alone every night, with just the company of a two year old while you're off living your dream and hanging out with the guys. All she has is to sit by the phone and wait for you to call if you get time. Cody, Jenna supports you; if she didn't she would have found a way to talk you out of wrestling all together. I think you need to think about that. Think about just how strong that love she has for you really is; she's basically put her career on hold so you can travel."

"She still writes-"

"Yeah, but when she lived in Minnesota, she was senior executive at a huge firm; now she's a freelance writer who spends a lot of her time watching Dora the Explorer and Tinkerbell instead of chasing stories all over the country. You're a lucky guy, Cody. I don't know why or how you screwed this up."

"I did make a mistake, I know I did. She has to forgive me; we're meant to be together," Cody said with a lump in his throat as he realized at that exact moment how bad he really had just fucked up.

"Give her some time, Cody. That's all I can really say. Be patient," she said softly as she started walking towards the front door. She turned to Cody one more time, "Take care, all right?" and then she went inside, leaving Cody alone on the porch with his thoughts.

Inside the house, Michelle walked into the living room where Jenna was taking shelter. "Hey," she said softly as she sat down next to Jenna on the couch and handed her the envelope Cody had just given her. Jenna's eyes immediately flooded with tears when she touched the paperwork that would end her fairytale marriage.

"I can't believe he actually filed them..." she whispered.

Michelle put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "What are you going to do, Jen?"

"I have no idea."

"Do you still love him?"

"Of course I still love him. I'm always going to love Cody Runnels. I just wish,...I just wish I knew that he loved me enough too to make this work."

"He does, Jen. I know he does. You two are just going through a rough patch right now. Hang in there ok?"

Jenna nodded. "Thanks. Um. I think I'm going to go upstairs and lay down for a little while."

"Sure...um. Is your mom still keeping Mandy tonight?"

Jenna nodded. "Yeah, did you still want to go out?"

"I think it would be a good idea for you to get out of the house for a night. It will be fun," she said with a reassuring smile.

Jenna nodded and headed up the stairs, the divorce papers clutched in her hands. She longed for a dreamless sleep where she didn't have to deal with the nightmare that her marriage has become.


	21. Lady Down on Love

Jenna sighed as she looked in the mirror. She looked tired and defeated. Her once vibrant brown eyes looked a little dull tonight. Michelle had told her what Cody had said to her out on the porch. Part of her wanted to believe Cody and run back into his arms and everything would be fine. Another part of her wanted to hold onto this anger and hurt she was feeling right now and throw it back in his face. She sighed as she looked down at her ring finger and saw that she was still wearing her wedding ring. Should she take it off? With a sudden burst of determination, she took the beautiful ring off and put it in her jewelry box. She looked at the empty spot on her finger and felt tears start to well up. She pushed those tears away and fluffed her hair up one more time before she slipped on her high heels and headed downstairs to see if Michelle was ready to go out.

.

.

.

Jenna walked a few steps behind Michelle and Amy and listened as they giggled and swapped horror stories of dating life. Jenna listened with interest as her two friends told story after story of bad first dates and stalker boyfriends. Was this the life she was headed towards? Maybe she should sit down and talk to Cody before she signed anything. Maybe they could work this out? But then again, maybe he would change for a year or two and then run back to Layla; then she would be in the same situation she is in right now.

Jenna followed the girls into the bar and they found three barstools together at the bar. It was a quiet night except for a group of good looking guys that Jenna thought looked vaguely familiar. Maybe she went to high school with them?

"Hey, Jen? You see that guy over in the black t-shirt?" Amy whispered to her.

Jenna nodded. "That's Billy Jacobson."

She thought for a second and started smiling. Amy had had the biggest crush on Billy in high school but never did anything about it. "Oh?" Jenna replied with a coy smile.

"Yeah...so the guy in the blue hoodie next to Billy is Chris Mattson. Um...me and Michelle are going to go over and talk to them and see if they remember us. Do you want to come with?"

Jenna shook her head no and tried to reassure her girlfriends that she would be just fine while they went and talked to the guys. She watched her friends walk away towards the back of the room slightly jealous that her friends were so confident about talking to men. She had been with Cody since she was 15 and besides the guy in Minneapolis she dated for a few months, she hadn't ever been with anyone except Cody. Suddenly feeling depressed, she ordered another Jack and Coke and tried to push those depressing thoughts of not knowing what to do without Cody out of her mind.

Her ears caught the sound of the song of the jukebox. It was a soft, slow song with soothing vocals. She caught the lyrics and forced the tears that immediately welled up in her eyes to not fall. It wasn't going to do her any good to start bawling and have a breakdown in the middle of a bar.

I_**t's her first night on the town since she was just eighteen  
>A lady down on love and out of hope and dreams<br>**__**The ties that once bound her now are broke away  
><strong>__**And she's like a baby, just learning how to play**_

She had always thought that after her and Cody had gotten back together the last time that nothing was going to tear them apart. What did Layla give Cody that he couldn't give him? Michelle said it was because it didn't feel like she was supporting his career the way that a wife should. That not only confused Jenna it irritated her. She basically gave up her career to stay home and raise their daughter. Jenna had never pictured herself as a stay at home mom. She still longed for the past when the days all ran together because she was hopping flights to chase a story. She missed the thrill of putting her ideas down on paper and getting lost in the zone. She spent her days playing with Mandy and teaching her all about the world. She spent her nights in a lonely bed waiting for Cody to call to just let her know that he was all right.

_**She never thought that love could ever end so soon  
>Her mind drifts back in time to a mid-summer moon<br>When he asked her to marry and she gladly said O.K  
>And a woman came to be from the girl of yesterday<strong>_

She looked down at the empty space on her ring finger. She sighed and ordered another drink. Glancing over at her girlfriends, it looked like they were having a good time with the two guys from high school. She was happy for them. Someone should be happy, it might as well be them. Jenna had her chance at happiness, she should have just forgave Cody when he admitted what he had been doing with Layla. Unfortunately for both Jenna and Cody, she's stubborn and is slow to forgive.

Mandy asked why she had spent the night with daddy and Jenna stayed at Auntie Michelle's. Jenna had to delicately explain to her only daughter that her and daddy weren't getting along right now and were going to try and live apart for a while. Seeing the confused look on her daughter's face made Jenna feel about a million times worse about having to tell Mandy. She could only imagine what Cody had explained to her.

Jenna knew that Cody wasn't the type of person that would bad mouth her to his own daughter. He loved that little girl more than anything. She wiped a stray tear away when she thought about how she used to one of the people he loved more than anything also...

_**Now she's a lady down on love  
>She needs somebody to gently pick her up<br>She's got her freedom, but she'd rather be bound  
>To a man who would love her and never let her dow<strong>_n  
>.<p>

.

.

.

Cody grimaced as the strong liquid burned down his throat. He was trying to work up enough liquid courage to go over to Michelle's later tonight and beg Jenna to take him back. Before he came up to the bar tonight, he had had a long and heated argument with Layla about how he couldn't see her anymore and that it was finally over for good this time. Layla tried to argue with him saying that he would be back once Jenna started getting on his nerves again; he always came back and that she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

_**Well, I know a lady that's down on her love  
><strong>__**'Cause I used to hold her and have that special touch  
>But work took me a way from home late at nights<br>And I wasn't there when she turned out the lights  
>Then both of us got lonely and I gave into lust<br>And she just couldn't live with a man she couldn't trust**_

Layla was wrong; Jenna was the best thing that had ever happened to him and he was determined to make sure that she knew that...


	22. More Promises

Jenna sat by herself at the bar, alone in her thoughts. She counted the empty glasses in front of her—five. Far too many to have when she was feeling this depressed. She looked at her watch and sighed; it was only eleven o'clock. She sent Michelle a text saying that she was going to grab a cab back to the house and that she would see her when she got back.

The cab ride was quiet and lonely. Jenna missed Cody. She wouldn't admit it when she was sober; but being alone and having her head swirl with random thoughts because of the whiskey allowed her to let her guard down. She missed him. She missed the way he used to kiss her; she missed hearing his voice on the phone; she missed sleeping next to him with his arm thrown over her waist; she missed his smile and his eyes. Jenna wiped a few stray tears away as she paid the cab driver and headed up the walkway to Michelle's porch. She stopped suddenly when she noticed that someone was actually sitting on the porch swing in the dark. She took out her phone and dialed 91, and was ready to hit another one and send if necessary.

"Hello?" she called out to the darkness. She slowly walked up the front steps and let out a sigh of relief when she saw who was sitting on the swing. It was Cody.

"What are you doing here?" she asked quietly as she sat down next to him. She was too tired and feeling defeated to fight with him right now with angry words that they would both regret later.

"I miss you, Jenna," he murmured. She was sitting close enough to him to smell the booze on his breath; apparently Cody had had the same idea Jenna had tonight—drink the pain away.

"I miss you, too," she whispered back. Slowly, she moved her hand next to his; he placed his larger one on top of hers.

"I'm so sorry, Jen. Really, really sorry..." he whispered.

"Me too..." she said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her. "Do you want to come inside?" she asked as she slowly stood up and then sat back down right away because everything started spinning when she did that.

He nodded and helped her up; hand in hand they walked inside Michelle's house and Jenna led him upstairs to the guest room where she had been staying for the past week. Right now, neither of them had any intention of talking about anything serious; there were other more important things that needed to happen between them.

Inside the bedroom, Cody shut the door behind him and watched Jenna from behind as she pulled her hair up into a messy ponytail. She shrugged out of the blouse she had on and he watched as she pulled on a white lace tank top. To Cody, she never looked so beautiful as she did right now. Biting his bottom lip, he walked slowly towards her; his eyes burning with desire for her. Very gently he placed his hands on her denim clad hips and slowly pulled her closer to him. Jenna's brown eyes were dark with desire and want. She slowly started unbuttoning his shirt, running her fingers down the exposed skin along the way. He shuddered involuntarily at her soft touch. She finished unbuttoning his shirt and he let it drop to the ground.

With light fingers, he moved the thin straps of her tank top down and bent his head to gently kiss her soft shoulders. She responded by running her fingers through his dark hair, pulling him closer and encouraging him to keep kissing and touching her.

Moments later, the interaction between the estranged couple heated up even more and Jenna found herself lying in bed with Cody on top of her, gently nipping at her neck while she wrapped her legs around his waist to try and pull him closer. Cody's mouth traveled up to her ear, "Jen, are you sure you want to do this," he whispered before his mouth headed back down to her neck. Without thinking about it, she whispered "Yes" as he pushed his way inside and they both tried to forget the nasty words that had been saying to each other as of late...

.

.

.

The next morning, Jenna woke up with a pounding headache. She rolled over and opened her eyes. "What the hell..." she mumbled to herself; Cody was laying beside her, sleeping peacefully. Suddenly angry with herself for giving into him, she pushed his shoulder, waking him up.

"Hey, Jen," he whispered as he closed his eyes in pain; he was just as hungover as she was this morning.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she sat up and prayed for the room to stop spinning.

"I don't know...I came over last night to talk to you and I guess...I don't know what happened. Well, I mean, I can guess what happened taking into account that me and you are naked in your bed..." he said with a small smile, trying to get her to giggle.

"This was a mistake..." she said as she started to get out of bed; Cody caught her arm and pulled her back into bed, closer to him.

"It wasn't a mistake, Jen. This was supposed to happen. Do you know why it was supposed to happen? Because we're married and because we love each other. You have to know somewhere inside that pretty head of yours, that I'm sorry, really sorry, and that I made a mistake. And that I swear on everything that I hold dear, that it won't happen anymore."

"I can't trust you, Cody," she said simply, but stayed next to him instead of running away from him.

"Yes, you can, baby. I broke it off with Layla last night for good before I came over here-"

"I've heard that before."

"I swear that I'm telling you the truth; I promise to never even look at another woman as long as I live. Please, Jen. Think of Mandy. Think of everything that we've been through. Think of us," he ended up whispering as he playing with a lock of her dark hair.

Jenna shook her head. "No."

"Jen, please, don't be difficult. I'll tear up the divorce papers and help you move your stuff back into the house. We're meant to be together; after everything we've been through in the last fifteen years, we can't let something like this tear us apart." Cody was well aware that he was coming off sounding like a desperate man right now. He didn't care; he couldn't lose his Jenna.

Jenna sighed; what choice did she have? It wasn't fair to Mandy to break up their little family; she needed her daddy as much as Jenna needed her husband. "One more chance, Cody. And if you fuck up again, we're done. I'll leave in the middle of the night like I did before," she threatened. She didn't want to threaten him, but she knew it was the only way that he was going to keep his promise to stay on the straight and narrow from now on.

Cody nodded. "I promise, baby..." he whispered as he leaned over to start nuzzling her ear. "I promise..."


	23. Short Lived Bliss

**A/N: Sorry for lack of updates. Got distracted. This chapter moves quickly and is kind of a filler; the proceeding chapter will pick up, promise. Read, review and enjoy.**

**Chapter 23**

A few days went by and Cody was back on the road again. He had moved Jenna and Mandy's belongings back into the house and swore up and down that he was going to be faithful to Jenna from here on out. The weeks they had spent apart were horrible; for both of them.

Cody was just about to head out the door to catch his flight when there was a knock on the front door. Cody was trying to console a sobbing Mandy who didn't want her daddy to leave. Sighing, Jenna left Cody to his daughter and went to answer the door. She saw red when she saw who was standing on her front porch. It was Layla. " What the hell are you doing here?" she growled at the shorter woman.

Layla smirked. "Is Cody here?"

"I asked you a question; what the hell are you doing here?" Jenna asked again as she started to raise her voice. Cody heard his wife talking to someone on the porch, he appeared a few seconds later with a tear streaked Mandy resting her head on his shoulder.

"Hi Cody!" Layla said in a sing song voice.

"Layla. What are you doing here? We agreed not to see each other anymore..." Cody trailed off as he put a hand a restraining hand on his wife's arm. He knew that if Mandy hadn't been in his arms, Jenna would have knocked Layla out for even thinking about coming to their house.

"I have something to tell you. A surprise!" she said with a big smile. "I thought it might be more exciting for you to hear it in person; which is why I took a detour flight out there. Can I come in?" she asked as she completely ignored Jenna and Mandy.

"No. In fact, go away," Jenna spat at her. Layla finally turned her attention to her lover's wife.

"Aw, what's the matter, Jenna? Not happy to see me?" she said as she rolled her eyes at Jenna and pushed past her to walk inside the house.

Jenna glared at Cody, who shrugged his shoulders. "I have no idea why she's here, Jen. I'll make her leave. Just...calm down," he said softly as he handed her Mandy.

Inside the kitchen, Cody saw that Layla had made herself at home. "What the hell are you doing here, Layla? I told you we couldn't see each other anymore. I'm married. With a kid. I love my wife too much-"

"Really, Cody? You love her? You didn't seem to love her so much when you got me pregnant!" Layla shouted; she had hoped that Jenna had heard that.

"You're what?" Cody shouted back at her just as Jenna and Mandy came into the kitchen. "Mandy, honey, go in your room and play please," Cody said through gritted teeth. Jenna took Mandy's hand and led her upstairs to play with her dolls. On the way back downstairs, Jenna's stomach started to fill with butterflies. Why was Layla here? Why was Cody shouting at her? Jenna was determined to find out.

She paused in the doorway of the kitchen before she went in. Cody was pacing back and forth, mumbling to himself while Layla sat in a kitchen chair with a huge grin on her face. "What's going on?" Jenna asked quietly.

"I'm pregnant," Layla said simply with that huge smile still plastered across her face.

"Jen, let me explain-" Cody started to say as Jenna let out a huge scream of frustration and started walking towards Layla. Cody immediately stepped in front of Layla before Jenna could do something that she might regret later. "Babe, you need to calm down-" was all Cody got out before Jenna pulled her hand back and slapped her husband across the face.

"Get out," Jenna growled. "And take your knocked up tramp with you," Jenna said quietly before she walked over to the refrigerator, reached up and grabbed an envelope from on top. It was the divorce papers. She quickly signed her name and walked over to Cody, who was still holding his cheek from the hard slap his wife had just given him. "Either get out now, or I'm taking Mandy and we're leaving. File these fucking papers today yet. We are done."

"Jen, don't do this, baby. We just got back together-"

"And now we're done. I can't do this anymore, Cody. Especially now. Not only did you cheat on me, with her," she said as she cast a glare at Layla, "but you got her pregnant. When we got married, you **promised** to only love me forever. You **promised** to only have babies with me. You broke a lot of promises lately, Cody, and I can't do it anymore. Get out or I'm leaving you won't see me and Mandy ever again. Your choice," she said as she tried to force the tears that were welling up in her eyes to not fall.

"Jen..." Cody whispered. "Please don't do this, think of Mandy..."

"You mean the same way you thought of us when you slept with Layla."

"I'm sorry... please don't do this..."

"I'm sorry too, Cody. I'm sorry I gave into you three years ago and agreed to not go through with the divorce. I'm sorry I gave you a second chance a few days ago. This is strike three. I can't do this anymore," Jenna said softly as she turned away from Cody and started to walk upstairs to start packing her and Mandy's belongings.

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**Two Weeks Later**

Jim Andrews talked to a friend of his who was a prominent lawyer in Atlanta and was able to get Jenna and Cody's divorce proceedings passed through the system at a quick pace. They were officially divorced two weeks after Layla announced that she was pregnant. After a quick custody hearing, Jenna was granted full custody of little Mandy; Cody would have visitation rights when his schedule allowed and they would alternate major holidays. Cody was heartbroken; he didn't want to be with Layla, he wanted to be with Jenna. Unfortunately for Cody, however, Jenna had packed up all of her things along with Mandy's, and had moved in with her parents, leaving Cody with just an empty house to come to on his days off.

Layla was trying to push the subject of her moving to Atlanta with him; he didn't want anything to do with her, even if she was carrying his baby. Layla revealed that she was ten weeks pregnant and had no intentions of terminating the pregnancy or giving the baby up for adoption; Cody was stuck.

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Today was Layla's last day of work before her extended leave of absence from the company. She sat in catering at the arena, her hands on her still flat stomach, and smiled to herself as she thought about the life she was going to have with Cody soon. She just had to convince him that this was all for the best. Layla's daydreams were interrupted by someone sitting down across from her at the table. She looked up and was met with the steel cold blue eyes of a smirking viper. "I hear congratulations are in order, Layla," he growled at her as a big smile broke out on to her face. "I tried to congratulate Cody earlier today, but he ended up punching me in the face before I could get all the words out."

Layla shrugged her shoulders. "Yeah, he's not taking it very well right now, but he will. I just need to give him some time. Did you hear that their divorce finally went through? Princess Jenna had her daddy pull some strings at the courthouse," she said as she rolled her eyes at the thought of what a spoiled little bitch Jenna really was. "Cody's all torn up about it right now; I don't know why either. You would think that he would be happy that she's finally out of his life."

"Hmm...they have that kid together," Randy said quietly.

"Yeah, but you know as well as I do what a bitch she can be sometimes. You don't honestly think that she's actually going to go along with what the court said about custody, do you?"

Randy chuckled. "No, probably not. She's stubborn. Well, I just wanted to stop by and congratulate you on your exciting news," Randy said as he stood up. "Oh, I also wanted to say thank you. We're even now," he said before he walked away.


	24. Moving On

**Chapter 24**

_**Three Months Later**_

Three months after their divorce was finalized, Jenna was offered a journalist position with a prominent newspaper. While she was very excited, and a little relieved, that this offer was in front of her, there was one aspect of the job that she didn't much care for; the job required her to relocate. To St. Louis, Missouri. After a long discussion with her parents, Jenna decided to take the position and uproot her daughter from the only home she had ever known in Atlanta.

After a tearful good-bye from her parents, Jenna took Mandy by the hand and led her inside the house the company was renting for her. "Mommy, why are Nana and Gpa leaving?" Mandy asked in her little voice, her brown eyes full of confusion and the beginning of tears.

"Mandy, sweetie, I've explained this to you; mommy was offered a new job and St. Louis is where the new job is; surely you understand," Jenna said distractedly as she started putting dishes away in the cupboard.

"But I don't want to leave Nana and Gpa. And if we move, daddy isn't going to know where to find us!" the little girl started sobbing. The divorce had been particularly hard on Mandy; she just couldn't understand why daddy didn't live with them anymore and now that they had moved, he wasn't going to be able to find them.

Jenna looked sadly at her little girl who was beginning to break down with the weight of the world on her little shoulders. She sat down in a kitchen chair and held out her arms and Mandy came over and climbed up onto her mother's lap and let all of her tears out. Jenna buried her face into her daughter's soft brown hair and let her own tears fall. Mandy was crying because she had to leave her grandparents and the only home she had ever known; Jenna was crying because moving out of Atlanta meant that her fairytale romance with Cody was finally over.

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Randy had just pulled into the driveway of his St. Louis home; he had been on the road for two weeks straight and was now set to be on 'vacation' for a whole week. He didn't mind the time home, in fact, it was well needed and deserved. What he didn't like was coming home to an empty house. His life was perfect, except for the fact that there was no warm woman waiting in the living room for him with a smile. There were no overly excited kids to greet him at the door. Hell, he didn't even have a dog to welcome him home. A frown started to appear on his face as he thought about other guys he worked with that had all of that love waiting for them when the got home; and then there are those whose brain is controlled by their dick and they throw all of that out the window for a piece of ass. He was thinking about his old friend Cody. His friend had had the perfect life—a beautiful, sexy and smart wife who adored him, a beautiful daughter who loved her father and a big beautiful house. Cody was an idiot who threw away all that perfection for a piece of ass from Layla. And now she was knocked up. Serves him right, Randy thought to himself as he unlocked the front door and threw his bags on the couch. He looked around in disgust; apparently the last time he was home he hadn't bothered to straighten up his house before he went back on the road. It also seems that he forgot to call his mother to remind her to come over and do some cleaning.

Shrugging his broad shoulders, he decided that he would worry about the mess later; right now he was starving and wasn't sure if he had anything edible in the refrigerator. Well, anything that wouldn't kill him anyways. Finding nothing edible or of interest, Randy let out a groan of frustration; he was going to have to go to the grocery store. Glancing over at the clock on the kitchen wall, he saw that it was close to seven o'clock and he was starving. Grabbing his truck keys he started to head out the front door, locking it behind him,

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"Mandy, please sit down in the cart, I don't want you to fall out," Jenna said in an exasperated voice as she desperately tried to finish her grocery shopping while trying to wrangle a wild three year old. Mandy had no intention of settling down; she was tired of sitting in the cart while her mother shopped.

Randy had just finished up his shopping and was about to head towards the check out when a pretty brunette and a small girl caught his eye. He had to look twice; could it really be? A smirk appeared on his face when he realized that he was right. It was the lovely Jenna. Very quietly and slowly he walked up behind Jenna while she tried to reason with her misbehaving daughter. The little girl's face lit up when she saw him. "Hi!" she shouted with a big smile on her cute little face. Confused, Jenna turned around to see who Mandy would be talking to; she immediately rolled her eyes when she saw none other than Randy Orton standing behind her with an amused look on her face.

"Hi, Mandy. Are you shopping with mama?" he asked quietly, trying like hell not to growl at the little girl.

An even bigger smile broke out on her face as she nodded, but then quickly frowned. "Mama won't let me walk next to the cart. I promised to be good!" she said in a whiny voice as she glared at her mother.

"Amanda Sue..." Jenna started to say but Randy interrupted her.

"What are you doing in St. Louis?" he asked gruffly as he tried not to make it too obvious that he was eying her up and down with lustful eyes, taking her all in—her long brown hair was pulled into a braid that hung past her shoulders and she was wearing a pair of old jeans with a hole in the right knee plus a white tank top that he could almost see through. He looked down at her feet and thought it was adorable that she had a pair of old black Converse sneakers on; she looked perfect.

"New job," she mumbled before she put her hands on her cart to try and move away from him.

"Don't be rude, Jenna," Randy said softly.

She sighed. "Fine. How are you, Randy? Home from the road?" she asked with a disinterested tone in her voice.

"I'm doing well. I have a week off before I need to fly overseas for a tour." She just nodded as she kept her eyes on the floor. She wished he would just go away. "So...anyway. I had heard about you and Cody." That statement got her attention; she looked up at him, her brown eyes starting to fill with anger and frustration; he knew he had to play it slow here or she would blow up at him and storm off.

"What about it?" she asked sharply.

Mandy piped up. "Daddy doesn't live with us anymore," she said sadly.

"Ah, I'm sorry to hear that," he said softly to the child. "Really, Jenna, I am. But I did try to warn you about him and Layla."

She nodded. "Yes, I remember. If you had kept your big mouth shut, I never would have suspected anything was wrong and I would still be married to the boy I've been in love with since I was 15. Thanks for pointing that out," she said gruffly as she stared him down.

"Hey, now. If I hadn't told you, you would have been in more shock that you probably already were to find out that he had knocked her up. You should be thanking me," he said with a smirk.

She rolled her eyes; a habit he found extremely sexy. "This conversation is over. Good-bye, Randy," she said as she moved away from him and started pushing her cart down the aisle again. Little Mandy waved to Randy, who smiled and waved back.

Suddenly, being home in St. Louis for a whole week suddenly got a lot more interesting.


	25. Neighbors

**Chapter 25**

Randy finished paying for his groceries, a small smile on his face as he thought about how much more interesting St. Louis had just gotten now that the lovely Jenna moved here. He hadn't had a chance to ask her where she was living in the city, but he had to know. He knew that he shouldn't try and hook up with Cody's ex-wife so soon after their divorce; but he couldn't help it. He craved that woman. He wanted her more and more each time she shot him down and rolled her eyes at him. He simply had to have her.

Noticing that she wasn't at any of the check out lines, he assumed that she hadn't left yet. A brilliant idea came to him as he walking outside to the parking lot. He would wait for her. He had been very patient so far, and it seemed as though his patience was starting to pay off. He knew that she would eventually give in to him; he just had to keep waiting.

A few minutes later, a tired looking Jenna came outside with a bouncy Mandy in tow. Poor Jenna looked exhausted. Randy thought to himself how he would love to be the one to rub her shoulders and let her lean on him during this difficult time; and that's exactly what he planned on doing. The tricky part was going to be getting her to realize that she could actually trust him.

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Randy watched from his car a few parking spaces over as Jenna first loaded little Mandy into the car and then her groceries. If she had been nicer to him in the store, he might have offered to help her do that. Hell, he'd put them all in there for her and carry them into the house for her just to be able to be close to her.

She was finally ready to go. He watched with interest as the blue SUV pulled out of the parking space and headed north. He headed the same way; not because he was following her, but because he lived the same way. Imagine his surprise when she turned onto the same street that he lived on. Imagine his luck when he saw her pull into the driveway of house only a few up the street from his. Suddenly, the thoughts he had had about moving out of Missouri and moving to Tampa went flying out the window. St. Louis held a lot of interest right now.

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Randy paced around his living room; he was feeling caged in, it was driving him insane to know that Jenna, the woman he had lusted over for the last four years was living just a few houses away. He had to think of a way to see her again. He just had to. Suddenly a brilliant idea came to him. He headed upstairs to his bedroom to throw on a pair of track pants, a tank top and his running shoes. He was hoping that he could catch a glimpse of the lovely Jenna while he jogged past her house. Hell, even if he could catch Mandy's eye and start a conversation with her, that was sure to bring her mother around.

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After Jenna fed Mandy a quick dinner, her and Mandy were outside, enjoying the warm summer evening. Jenna was working on her laptop while her daughter 'decorated' their walkway with sidewalk chalk. Jenna looked up from her computer and smiled at the little girl; she seemed content right now. After an exhausting trip to the grocery store with her, she was glad that there was this moment of peace. She knew that Mandy was only acting out the way she was right now because of all the changes that had happened in her little life as of late—her and Cody divorcing so quickly, moving out of their house in Atlanta and into Marietta with her grandparents, not seeing Cody at least once a week anymore, and then Jenna up and moved her to a different state. It was all very difficult for a three year old to understand. Hell, it was hard for Jenna to understand right now as well.

Jenna had met a few of the neighbors since her and Mandy had moved into the neighborhood, Mandy had even made a few friends all ready and was excited to be joining them in preschool this fall, so when the neighbors would walk by with their dogs, Jenna would politely wave and smile and then turn her attention back to her laptop. A jogger caught her eye before she could get absorbed in her work again. It couldn't be, it just couldn't be. Why was he on the same street she was? Why was he jogging past her house? Did he follow her here and was doing this to grate on her nerves, or did he actually live close by? Jenna hoped that he was doing this just to grate on her nerves and that he wasn't actually a neighbor of hers.

"Hi Randy!" Mandy squealed with delight as she looked up from her chalk drawing and saw her 'friend' Randy jog past her house.

Randy stopped, and with a smile, proceeded to stop his jog and walk up Jenna's walkway. "Well, hey, kiddo. Is there where you live?" he asked.

Mandy nodded. "Yep, just me and mommy," she replied. Randy smiled briefly at the little girl before he turned his attention to a shocked Jenna sitting on the front steps.

"Hey, fancy meeting you here. Didn't realize that we were neighbors..." he trailed off as he started moving closer to her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply.

Randy chuckled, "I live three houses down. I was just going for a run tonight."

"Why do I have a sinking feeling that you're doing this just to annoy me?"

"Why do you always have to be such a bitch?"

His question shocked her; did he really just call her a bitch? "I know that our past is kind of...bad...but you won't even let me try-"

"Try what, Randy? Try to get in my pants again? You already ruined my marriage, so it's not like you can try and do that again," she spat back.

Once again, Randy chuckled. "Sweetheart, **I **didn't ruin your marriage; **your husband** did that on his own. I was just trying to give you a heads up."

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Whatever. You can leave now."

"That's not very neighborly of you, Jenna," he said softly as he came closer to her and actually had the nerve to sit down next to her. "You're new in town, you should at least pretend to be polite to your neighbors."

"I have been polite to them; I don't need to be polite to you, because I already know all about you."

"That's where you're wrong, Jenna. You don't know anything about me. Mostly because you won't give me a chance. There's this certain chemistry between me and you, and it scares the hell out of you. I gave into it a long time ago, not sure why you won't do the same." And with that he stood up and walked away from her, leaving her with that thought. Hopefully his words would get her to thinking about giving him a chance.


	26. Let's Play House

**Chapter 26**

"Layla, I've explained this to you about a hundred times before; I don't want to marry you. I'm sorry you think that because you're pregnant that I would just up and marry you," Cody said slowly. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but she had to know where he stood. He had no interest in marrying her, even if she was carrying his baby; there was only woman he had wanted to be married to and she didn't want him anymore. How could he be such an idiot? His beautiful Jenna was gone forever and all because Cody couldn't keep it in his pants while he was on the road. "I just got divorced from my wife of ten years a few months ago; surely you can't expect me to just jump into another marriage so soon?" Cody was trying like hell to keep his temper in check; Layla had been driving him insane the last few weeks.

"Cody, I'm not asking you to marry me; I'm just asking you to make a decision about whether or not you're going to get serious with me. I am carrying your baby, that has to count for something," Layla said softly with tears starting to shine in her eyes. "You can't just deny me; we made this baby together. And before Jenna came back into the picture, you had been pretty happy with me." Her and Randy's brilliant plan hadn't been working out the way she had imagined that it would. She was having Cody's baby, but he didn't seem to even be remotely excited about it.

Cody let out a sigh of frustration. "I gotta get going. My flight is leaving for Atlanta in about an hour," he said gruffly as he finished packing his suitcase.

"Please don't leave," Layla whispered as she took his hands and placed in on her belly. She was just about five months along now and was starting to show. "Please stay here with me."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, Layla. But...I can't."

Layla's eyes turned dark with anger; she pushed him away form her. "Fine. Get out. I don't care. Just leave!" she cried as she pushed past him and went to lock herself in her bedroom. Cody had wrestled in Tampa last night and had stayed with her instead of staying in a hotel. Because he had agreed to stay with her and had even slept in her bed last night, she thought that they had been on track to getting serious. This morning when she woke up with his strong arms around her was the happiest she had been in a long time.

Cody let out a growl of frustration as he picked up his bag and went to knock on her bedroom door. He heard a muffled 'go away' through the door. "Layla, I'm leaving. I'll call you later."

Nothing. Not a sound from her side of the door. Rolling his eyes, he walked out of her apartment and started to head towards the airport.

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Cody landed in Atlanta a few hours later, took a cab home and hesitated before going into the empty house. It was hell coming home to no one, it was days like this that he missed Jenna more than anything. He hadn't actually spoken to her since the divorce was final and they had the custody hearing. She was being nice and letting him have Mandy whenever he was home, but she was sure to have him pick his daughter up at her parents house.

He had been trying to get a hold of Jenna for a few days now to let her know that he was going to be home for three days and he would like to have Mandy. She had either been avoiding his calls or was wrapped up in her own life again. Sighing, when he saw that she hadn't returned his calls, he swallowed his pride and dialed the number to Jim and Alice Andrews.

"Hello?" a soft southern drawl answered the phone. Cody breathed a sigh of relief when he heard his former mother-in-law's voice and not Jim's. Alice had been trying to be cordial to him after the divorce, while Jim had always made it a point to big an asshole whenever he could.

"Hi, Alice. This is Cody. Say, I'm home for a few days and I was looking for Jenna. Is she over there by chance? Or do you have Amanda for the day?"

Silence. "Um...Cody, didn't you get the message from Jenna?"

"No...what kind of message was I supposed to be getting from her?"

"Well, she accepted a job out of state and her and Mandy moved."

Cody felt his stomach drop. She was gone? They were both gone? "Where did she move to? How am I supposed to see my daughter on my days off when Jenna isn't even living in this state anymore?" Cody reminded himself to not raise his voice; Alice wouldn't hesitate to hang up on him.

"Cody, calm down. She was offered a position in St. Louis. I have her phone number, you can call her and work something out. Jenna isn't trying to keep your daughter away from you."

St. Louis? St. Louis? Randy lived in St. Louis. Suddenly a wave of anger washed over Cody. "Can I have that number please?"

Alice gave him the number and ended the conversation rather quickly. He wondered how long it would be before Randy realized that Cody's ex-wife now lived in the same city as him?

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"Mama? Mama? Someone is knocking on the door," Mandy said as she pulled on her mother's skirt trying to get her attention. Jenna had been absorbed in her work and hadn't heard anyone knocking on the door. She was actually surprised that Mandy had torn her attention away from her Barbie dolls to even notice. Sighing, she stood up and started for the front door; she wasn't sure who would be stopping by, she didn't know anyone in town. It might have been Cody, she did leave her new information at Virgil's house, it seemed odd that she hadn't heard from him in a while. She was hoping that Cody's new found bachelor lifestyle wasn't going to turn him into a deadbeat dad.

Imagine Jenna's surprise when she opened the door and saw Randy standing there. Because Mandy was standing beside her and had let out an excited squeal, Jenna fought the urge to roll her eyes and slam the door in Randy's face.

"Hey," he said softly.

"Hi," Jenna said solemnly.

"Hi, Randy!" Mandy chirped. "Did you come over to play with me?" the little girl asked as she pulled Randy inside the house by his hand. Randy chuckled and followed the little girl into the living room, glancing quickly back at Jenna to see her eyes wide with shock at what had just happened.

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Mandy quickly ran back to her bedroom to grab some more toys, allowing Jenna to finally get an opportunity to talk to Randy. "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly from the couch.

Randy smirked and got up from the floor and crossed the room to sit down next to her. Jenna immediately tried to move away from him, he was too quick and was next to her, their legs touching. "I came to visit; to welcome you to the neighborhood...That's what good neighbors do..." he trailed off as he moved his face closer to hers. Luckily, before Randy could go through with what he had intended on doing, Mandy came bouncing out of her room with an armful of baby dolls.

"Let's play house!" she squealed in delight, throwing a baby at Randy. He held the baby doll and turned to look at Jenna. "Randy, you can be the daddy, and mommy you can be the mommy, and I'll be...hmmm...the big sister!" Mandy said as she busied herself with the babies and handed one to Jenna.

"Come on, mommy...let's play house," Randy growled at her as he winked at her.


	27. This is Not a Date

**Chapter 27**

"Mama, you have to be quiet! The babies are sleeping!" Mandy said sternly as she laid the last baby doll on the floor and covered it up with a blanket. The little girl smiled at her dolls and whispered "I love you so much," as she walked back over to the couch and sat down next to Randy. Jenna felt the sting of tears start to well up in her eyes; 'I love you so much' was what Cody used to whisper to Mandy after he tucked her in bed at night.

"You are an excellent big sister, Mandy," Randy said as Mandy beamed at him. Jenna couldn't figure it out; what was it about Randy that her daughter just adored? Shaking her head, she glanced at the clock on the wall; it was close to dinner time. She didn't want to start making anything while Randy was here, because he might assume that he was welcomed to join them. And he was not; at least according to Jenna anyways.

"Oh no! One of the babies is awake!" Mandy said is a rushed voice as she jumped off of the couch and gently picked up one of the babies. "I need help! She won't stop crying," Mandy said sadly as she handed the baby doll to Randy. Very gently, he held the baby and pretended to rock it back and forth. The action brought a big smile to Mandy's face. "You are a good daddy. She stopped crying," she said as she took the baby from him and went to go lay it back down on the floor.

"Mama? I'm hungry. Can you make me something to eat?" Mandy asked as she climbed into Jenna's lap and rested her head against her chest. Jenna nodded and was about to head into the kitchen.

"What a coincidence, I was just about to head downtown and grab something to eat myself. Would you two lovely ladies like to join me?" Randy said as he stood up from the couch and looked at Jenna.

"Yippee!" Mandy shouted. "Come on, mama, go get ready so we can go to dinner with Randy!" the little girl squealed as she twirled around and around the room. Jenna watched her daughter dance around in excitement in shock; what on earth did her daughter just agree to do?

"What does mama need to do to get ready?" Randy asked as he looked Jenna up and down and seeing nothing wrong with the way she was dressed.

Mandy let out a big sigh. "Daddy always gets mad at mama because she spends a lot of time getting ready. But mama needs time to get so pretty." The little girl stopped talking, seeming to think something over. "You're not gonna get mad at mama if she takes time getting pretty, are you Randy?" she asked with her big brown eyes looking up at him.

Randy shook his head. "I think your mama looks very pretty right now," he said softly as he turned his attention to Jenna, who looked like she was ready to explode. He chuckled. "So very pretty. All the time. Your daddy was a lucky a man." He crossed the room and bit his lip as he leaned down by Jenna's ear, "The key word is 'was'. Go get ready."

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Ten minutes later, Jenna was almost finished getting ready in the bathroom. She had pulled her brown hair into a simple ponytail, she didn't bother with a lot of make-up. Randy wasn't worth the effort to putting make-up on, Jenna thought glumly to herself. She couldn't believe she was doing this. Checking her reflection in the full length mirror, she decided that there was in no way, shape or form, her outfit giving Randy the wrong idea about them having dinner together. She wore a simple pair of blue jeans and a dark blue pull over sweater. She took a deep breath and left the bathroom.

Mandy was sitting on Randy's lap while he read her a story. Jenna stood by the living room entrance, out of their view and watched her arch nemesis reading to her daughter. His deep voice reading such a silly story was making Mandy collapse into a fit of giggles; despite how much she disliked Randy, a small smile formed on Jenna's lips as she saw how happy and content her little girl was right now.

_**The last thing he meets up with, is a great big excavator. He is so sure this is his mother. Finally he has found her! He runs excitedly up to it, climbs on and says, "Mother Mother, here I am mother!" The excavator says to the baby bird, "SNORT". Quickly the baby bird realizes he has made a mistake. This is definitely not his mother. The excavator begins to move and the baby bird is in big trouble now. He cries out, "I want to go home, I want my mother!"  
><strong>_

_**The excavator puts the baby bird gently back in his nest and his mother comes home. She asks him if he knows who she is. After the baby bird tells his mother of all the adventures he had looking for her, he says, "You are bird, and you are my mother."**_

Randy closed the book and looked up to see Jenna watching him. "Speaking of mothers...looks like your mother is ready to go," he said softly to Mandy.

.

.

.

"Tell me about your new job," Randy said before he took a long drink of his beer. He, Jenna and Mandy were sitting in a local pizza parlor sharing a cheese pizza. Mandy had insisted on sitting in the booth next to Randy. Jenna was amazed at how well her daughter was behaving right now; she was looking up at Randy in awe, for some reason she absolutely adored that man.

"Um..well, I was offered a senior reporter position with St. Louis Magazine. I haven't worked since Mandy was born, and wasn't sure if I still had it. But Jack, that's the HR guy, read some of the freelance stuff I had been working on and thought I would work out great. The only thing was that I had to relocate."

"What's wrong with St. Louis?" Randy asked with interest. He too was surprised at how well they were getting along tonight. Usually after about ten minutes she was rolling her eyes at him and looking for nearest exit.

She shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing, I guess. I've only lived in two states—Georgia and Minnesota—so I wasn't sure what to expect. I didn't exactly set out to take a job where I would have to move."

"But, if the magazine was called 'St. Louis Magazine', you must have known that you would have to move to Missouri," he asked in a teasing tone. That's when she rolled her eyes at him; that made him smile. "It's not so bad here."

"I don't doubt that, but we had to move out of Atlanta and that's where Cody lives," she said sadly.

"If he wanted to be a father to her, he'll find a way to see her," he said quietly.

"What do you mean 'if he wanted to be a father'? Do you know something I don't?" Jenna asked defensively.

"Nothing. Just that I know he's been spending a lot of time in Tampa lately. Which is where Layla lives."

"Stop. I don't...I don't want to hear anymore about Cody and Layla. Please," she asked with pleading eyes. She didn't want to think about Cody tonight. And she sure as hell didn't want to think about Layla.

"All right," he said softly.

.

.

.

Jenna closed the car door behind Randy while he carried a sleeping Mandy up the front steps. She unlocked the front door and he followed her through the living room and down the hall to Mandy's bedroom. Jenna watched as he gently laid the little girl down in her bed and actually leaned down to kiss her good night.

He followed Jenna out of the bedroom and back into the living room. He walked to the front door. "I should get going..." he said softly as Jenna followed him. He took a step closer to her, which made her back up a step. "Thank you for humoring me and coming out to dinner with me tonight," he whispered as he softly touched her cheek. He counted it as a victory when she didn't slap his hand away. Deciding to take a chance he leaned down to try and kiss her, but this time she put her hand up.

"This wasn't a date," she said softly.

"I think it was," he whispered back.

"No...because my kid was with. That doesn't count as a date."

"Let me take you out on a real date tomorrow night then."

"No."

"Damn. You shot me down fast," he chuckled. "Let's try this again. Jenna, can I take you out to dinner and a movie tomorrow night? I promise to be a gentleman."

"I don't have a sitter."

"My mom will watch her. She loves kids."

"I don't know your mom."

"Come over and meet her tomorrow then."

"You certainly are persistent."

"One of my best traits," he said as he winked at her and put his hand on the door knob. "I'll pick you and Mandy up tomorrow around eleven. We'll have lunch at my mom's house."

"Wait, I never agreed-" but the door shut before she could get the rest of her sentence out. Great, now she not only had a dinner date with Randy tomorrow night, she was also going to meet his mother. Jenna shook her head as she locked the front door and shut the light off in the living room. She was going to bed early; she had a feeling that tomorrow was going to be a long, but interesting, day.


	28. Rude Awakening

**Chapter 28**

Jenna was awoken early the next morning by the sound of her cell phone ringing. Groaning, she rolled over and picked it up, letting out a hiss when she saw that the time was only a little after six in the morning. Who would be calling this early? She was going to flip out if it was Randy inviting himself over coffee this morning.

"Hello..." she mumbled.

"Jenna, where the hell are you?" Cody growled in her ear.

"Cody...How nice to hear from you. I'm in St. Louis."

"What the fuck are you doing there?"

"Ok, first of all, stop yelling at me. Second, I left at least three messages with your dad about where Mandy and I were moving to; it's not my fault you're too busy fucking around-"

"Damn it, Jenna. Stop right now. I didn't call you to start fighting with you."

"Could have fooled me. Tell me then, why the hell did you call, Cody?"

"I want to see my kid," he said simply.

"Well, I guess you're going to have to come to St. Louis, because that's where we live now. If you would have bothered to stay in contact with me, or even your father, you would know that I took a job out here."

"Are you already shacked up with Randy? Shit, Jenna, we've only been divorced for three months and you jumped into bed-"

Jenna let out a scream of frustration and anger. "You are an asshole, Cody, you really are. I moved here because I was offered a job, and it just happened to not be in Atlanta. And for your information, I am not sleeping with Randy. Unlike you, I took our marriage vows seriously and I'm still trying to get over spending half my life with you. As you imagine, that might take some time to get over."

"What are you talking about? I took our vows seriously-" Jenna cut hit off with her laughter.

"You are a fucking joke, Cody. You were sleeping with that tramp for three years while we were married! Then you knocked her up! Tell me, Cody, how is her pregnancy going? Are you getting excited to become a father again?" she said sarcastically.

"I want to see my kid this weekend."

"Well, I already told you where we are. You can either come here and see her, or you stay home and fuck your whore. Your choice," and with that Jenna hung up. What a pleasant way to start a Saturday. Jenna laid in bed for a few minutes, glaring at the ceiling before she finally rolled out of bed and headed into the kitchen to make some coffee. It was going to be a long day.

.

.

.

Later that morning, Randy crawled out of bed and saw that it was only nine in the morning. A small smirk appeared on his face when he realized that in about two hours he would see the lovely Jenna again. He had better call his mother and tell her that her and dad had company for lunch.

"Hello?" Elaine Orton answered the phone cheerfully.

"Hey, mom, it's Randy."

"Oh Randy! It's so good to hear from you! Are you in town? You should come over and visit today."

"Actually, that's why I'm calling mom. I'm in town for the week and I'd like to come have lunch with you."

"Wonderful!"

"Well, there's one more thing. I'm going to bring...a friend...and her daughter."

Elaine was silent. Her son was bringing a girl home to meet her and Bob? This was very unlike Randy; he usually kept his personal life just that, personal. "Oh? What's her name?"

"Jenna."

"I see. And her daughter's name?" Elaine was a little wary that Randy wanted to bring a girl home to meet them that already had children of her own; that usually wasn't the type of girl that Randy took an interest in; she must have been someone special.

"Amanda; she's three."

"They are so adorable at the age! How long have you and Jenna been dating? I don't think I've ever heard of her before," Elaine asked as she smiled to herself.

"We're actually not dating, I'd like to, but she's recently divorced..."

"What did you say her name was? Jenna?" she asked, the name and the mention that she was recently divorced clicking in Elaine's head.

"Yes."

"Is this the same Jenna that was married to your friend Cody?"

"Yeah..."

"Son, don't you think that maybe...you shouldn't try and date her so soon after her and Cody's divorce?"

Randy chuckled. "Cody brought this on himself. We'll see you around 11:30, mom."

.

.

.

Cody was pacing back and forth in his living room. He was on 'vacation' for a few days and had planned on spending time with his daughter. The only problem with that is that his daughter was nine hours away. What was he going to do? He wandered into his home office and turned his laptop on; intending to start looking up flight and hotel information for St. Louis. There just had to be a way to convince Jenna to move back to Atlanta.

He found a flight that was leaving late afternoon; he could be in St. Louis by eight tonight, then he could spend at least three days with Mandy before he had to fly back home. Looking around for his phone, he took it out and hesitated a few seconds before he dialed Jenna's number again; their last conversation didn't go too well. Hopefully, she had some time to calm down.

After a few rings, she finally answered. "Hello."

"Jenna, it's Cody," he said nervously.

She sighed. "What do you want Cody?"

"I found a flight that's going to St. Louis later. I'll be there around eight tonight; I'd like to see Mandy while I'm in town."

Silence. "That's fine," she said softly; and then it sounded like she was covering the phone and talking to someone in the background. "No...I'll deal with it."

"Jenna? What's going on?" Cody asked.

There was a shuffling sound on the phone before someone came back on the line. "Jenna?"

"Randy."

Cody saw red. "What the fuck are you doing there?"

"I came to take Jenna and Mandy out for lunch. What do you want?"

"I was talking to my wife-"

"Ex wife," Randy interrupted.

Cody sighed. "I was talking to Jenna about how I was coming into town to spend some time with **my** daughter tonight."

"Huh. That's a great idea, Codes. You can watch Mandy while I take Jenna out for a movie and dinner tonight. Thanks, buddy," Randy growled before he hung up the phone, leaving Cody to not do anything except stare at the phone.

"Son of a bitch," he whispered.

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.

.

"Did you really have to do that?" Jenna said as she crossed her arms across her chest and leaned against the kitchen counter. "We already have a fight this morning...you just made it worse."

"You know...after the way he treated you...I'm surprised you aren't more upset with him."

Jenna shrugged her shoulders. "He's Mandy's dad; I'm not going to stop him from seeing her."

"Well...on the plus side, now you have a babysitter for our date tonight," he said with a sly smile.

Jenna rolled her eyes. "You know, I never actually agreed to go out on a date with you."

"You didn't tell me no."

"Yes, I did! I told you no last night!"

"Your eyes didn't..." he trailed off as he took a step closer to her. Reaching out slowly he touched a lock of her long hair and rolled it between his fingers. Another victory when she didn't slap his hand away. "It's almost eleven thirty; let's get going. My mom is waiting for us. She can't wait to meet you and Mandy."

.

.


	29. She Doesn't Like You

**Chapter 29**

"Randy! Where are we going? Are we almost there? I'm hungry! I don't want to be in the car anymore!" Mandy was whining in the backseat; happy that she was going to play with Randy today, unhappy that she had to sit in the car for a long car ride.

"We're almost there..." Randy said gruffly as he concentrated on driving all while still trying to steal glances at Jenna. She looked amazing today, he thought, as he watched her stare out the window in silence. Starting at her feet, he took in her simple black flip flops and pink toes, moved up to her white jean clad legs, lingering on her black tank top. He sighed as he breathed in the scent of her perfume. He wanted to pull over and ravage her right now, run his fingers through her dark hair and kiss that slender neck; but he had to restrain himself. "Be patient," he reminded himself. He knew eventually that Jenna would give into him, he just had to wait.

.

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.

"And this little darling must be Amanda!" Elaine gushed over Mandy, who was smiling from ear to ear from having so much attention lavished on her. "Do you like dolls, sweetheart?" Mandy nodded. "Well, then come with me, I have a room you're going to love!" Mandy let out a squeal of excitement and followed her new friend Elaine down the hall to the playroom, leaving Randy and Jenna alone in the living room.

"Remind me why I'm here again?" Jenna asked softly as she sat down on the couch.

"You're new in town and need a babysitter. My mom likes kids. It's a win-win situation," he said gruffly as he sat down next to her on the couch.

"How do you win in this situation?" Jenna asked with curiosity; this wasn't the first time today that she wondered what the hell she was doing with Randy. She still didn't like him, not at all, but at least she was finding herself not hating him right now.

Randy smiled, "You have a babysitter for tonight, and other nights, and I get to spend those nights with you..." he said softly as he moved closer to Jenna on the couch; their knees were touching as he leaned in closer to her. He was just about to make his move when he was interrupted.

"Well, I'll be damned," Bob Orton said gruffly as he came into the living room, squashing any opportunity that Randy had with Jenna at the moment.

"Dad," Randy said as he and Jenna stood up. "This is Jenna Runnels. Jenna, this is my father Bob. Cowboy Bob," he said proudly.

"Nice to meet you Jenna...Runnels, Runnels...relation to Virgil Runnels?" Bob asked.

Jenna's face turned bright red. "Father in law," she said softly as she looked down at the floor.

"Ex-father in law," Randy growled as he stared at Jenna.

Bob could feel the tension between the two when Randy corrected Jenna in saying that Virgil was her former father in law. He wondered what he son was up to now. Elaine had filled him in a little bit about Randy's new "friend". "I see. What brings you to St. Louis?" he asked while he ushered Jenna and Randy into the kitchen where lunch was ready.

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.

.

Cody's flight landed in St. Louis at seven thirty that night. After checking into a hotel for a few days, he followed the directions that Jenna had left his dad on where to find where she was living now. It had been bothering Cody all day long to know that Randy had already started to move in on his ex-wife. Ex-wife; those words sounded hard to Cody. It wasn't the first time in the past three months that he wished he had never laid eyes on Layla and had instead decided to be faithful to Jenna.

Layla's pregnancy was progressing beautifully without any problems; Cody knew that pretty soon he was going to have to make a decision about how involved in this baby's life he wanted to be. He didn't want to think about it right now. Thinking about Layla and her unborn baby was a hard reminder of how much a fuck up he really was sometimes.

Finally after driving past it a few times, he pulled into the driveway of Jenna's new house. He felt an unbelievable amount of anger rise up in him when he realized that Randy's truck was parked in front of the house. Gathering all the courage he could, he stepped out of the rental car and walked up the front steps. Taking a deep breath he rang the doorbell and waited. A few seconds went by before he heard the sound of little feet running towards the front door.

It sounded like Mandy was trying to turn the doorknob by herself before finally someone helped her. Cody's breath caught as he saw his beautiful Jenna standing there; her brown hair was pulled back by a headband, she had on a black tank top and white jeans and was barefoot. She never failed to take his breath away; how could he have been such an idiot? He had to blink a few times just to make sure this was really happening. "Daddy!" Mandy screamed in glee as she flung herself into Cody's arms.

"Pumpkin..." he mumbled into her hair as he hugged his little girl tight. "I missed you."

"I miss you too, daddy!" Mandy said as Cody set her down and she grabbed her father by the hand and led him into the house. "Come see my new room!" she said as she skipped down the hall; Cody wanted to stare at Jenna, but was forced to keep walking with Mandy.

Jenna closed the door and leaned against it; she willed her eyes not to fill up with tears. This is the first time she had actually seen him since the divorce was final. Every other time he came to pick up Mandy, he had picked the little girl up at her grandparents house; Jenna was sure to not be around. She knew it was going to hurt when she finally saw Cody again, she just didn't know how much. She had been nervous all afternoon, ever since Cody had called to say that he would be stopping by to pick up their daughter tonight.

"You ok?" a gruff voice said as he came out of the kitchen. Jenna was still leaning against the door with her eyes closed. She nodded and moved away from the door; she was about to head down the hall to Mandy's room, when Randy caught her arm. "Don't do it if it's going to hurt, Jenna. Just let him take Mandy for the weekend. I'll help you forget him," he said softly in her ear. She shrugged him off just in time for Cody to see them standing so close together.

"What the fuck is he doing here?" Cody asked as Mandy trailed behind him.

"Daddy! That's a naughty word!" Mandy scolded.

"Sweetheart, go to your room. Daddy needs to talk to mommy," Cody said slowly, never taking his eyes off of Randy and Jenna, who looked very guilty together.

The three adults watched the little girl go back to her room. "What the hell is going on? Jen, we're not even divorced for three months and you start banging-"

"Hell no, Cody. **I'm** not the one in the wrong here. **You** are. You broke our vows and got someone else pregnant," Jenna snapped.

"Oh, here we go again. Jenna's right and Cody's wrong," he snarled at her, begging her to pick a fight with him right now.

"I know what you're doing Cody, I know you're just trying to pick a fight with me. Stop it right now," Jenna said softly as she moved away from Randy and Cody and headed down the hall to Mandy's room.

"Mandy baby, let's get your Tinkerbell suitcase packed; it looks like you're going to get to spend some time with daddy," Jenna said as she dragged the suitcase out of the closet.

"Yippee!" Mandy shouted as she started gathering her dolls, filled with excitement because she was having the best day ever. First she got to watch cartoons with mommy, then she got to play with Randy and her new friend Elaine, and now she gets to go with daddy.

.

.

.

"What are you doing here, Randy?" Cody asked.

"Hanging out with Jenna. Why does it matter to you?" Randy replied.

"Are you sleeping with her?" Cody blurted out, suddenly embarrassed that he was coming off sounding like a jealous asshole.

Randy chuckled. "No. Not that I would tell you if I was though."

"Then what the hell are you doing here?"

"Being her friend. She's lonely; she's in a new city and doesn't know anyone."

"She doesn't like you, though."

Randy smirked. "Not yet, but she will eventually come around. On the plus side, your kid sure likes me..."


	30. Just a Kiss

**Chapter 30**

Half an hour later, Jenna was kissing Mandy good-bye and trying not to glare at Cody. "Please be a good girl for daddy," Jenna whispered to her daughter. Mandy nodded and was about to walk out the door with Cody when she stopped and looked at Randy. A big smile broke out onto her little face as she ran across the room and flung herself into Randy's arms, giving him a great big hug.

"Ah, thank you, Mandy," Randy said softly to the little girl. As much as he didn't want to admit it, the kid was starting to grow on him. He just wished her mother would start to feel the same way about him.

"I had fun playing with you and Elaine today! Can we do that again soon?" she asked in an excited voice.

Randy chuckled, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure Elaine would like that. You better get going. Your daddy is waiting," he said softly as he caught Cody glaring at the interaction between him and Mandy.

Cody was counting to ten under his breath, trying to keep his rage inside as he watched his daughter hug and giggle in the arms of her new 'friend.'

"Amanda Sue. Let's go," he said sharply as he picked up her suitcase. Mandy ran across the room and walked out the front door behind her father.

Jenna sighed. "What's the matter with you?" Randy growled as he came up behind her. "We're all alone now...what do you think we should do," he whispered as he tentatively placed his hands on her hips and pulling her back against him. He frowned when he felt her stiffen up against him. He had to remind himself to move slower with her. "Want to go see a movie..." he whispered. She shook her head. "Hm...dinner?" She nodded; he smiled. "Drinks?" he murmured in her ear as she shivered against him.

She turned around and looked at him, her brown eyes filled with questions. "I need to change. Go sit down," she said softly before she pulled away from him and headed towards her bedroom. A large smile broke out on to his face. She was starting to come around; it was just taking a little persistence on his part.

.

.

.

Forty five minutes later, Jenna was still not ready and Randy was beginning to think that she had ditched him and slipped out the bedroom window. Deciding to see what was keeping her, he crept down the hallway and stopped by her bedroom door. It was cracked open enough for him to peek inside; he held in a low groan as he watched her.

She was in just her bra and panties, black and lacy; his breath caught as he secretly watched her put one foot on the edge of the bed and slid a pair of sheer black thigh high stockings on her long legs. Satisfied with the position of her stockings she walked over to the closet and took out two dresses. 'Pick the black one,' he thought to himself as she held up a short, skimpy sleeveless dress and held it up to her body. She nodded at the way the black one looked against her and put the other dress back in the closet. He closed his eyes for a brief second while she placed the dress over her head and shimmied into it. He would never understand how a woman could get herself into a dress that tight without help. She slipped on a pair of black stilettos and checked her reflection in the mirror.

Randy hurried back down the hall and sat down on the couch like he had been sitting there all along and hadn't been spying on her.

"I'm ready," she said softly. "But let's make one thing clear, Randy. This is not a date. This is just an event happening between two people."

"Sounds like a date to me," he said as he stood up and helped her with her jacket.

"It's not," she said stubbornly.

"You like to over analyze things, Jenna. Let's analyze this. Your daughter is away for the weekend; you're new in town and don't know anyone. I'm offering to take you out for the night. I'm attracted to you. God, am I attracted to you. And even though you are quite possibly the most stubborn woman that I have ever met, you are attracted to me as well. Sounds like a date to me," he said with a satisfied smirk on his face.

Jenna rolled her eyes at him. "Fine. Call it whatever you want. I call it going out for a drink because today has been...difficult."

"Why has today been difficult? You got to spend it with me. Wait, I get it; it was difficult because you had to restrain yourself from throwing your body at me, is that it?" he asked with a wink.

"You are something else," she said softly as she started to walk towards the front door. Randy stayed a few steps behind her so he could admire her from behind. He always said that Cody was a lucky guy for having someone like Jenna on his arm; however, tonight, it looked like Randy was the lucky guy.

.

.

.

An hour later, Jenna was doing yet another shot of whiskey with Randy at a little dive bar; this would be her third one, in the hour they had been here; she knew she had to slow down or she would end up doing something with Randy that she would regret.

"Hey..." he growled into her ear as he slid in next to her in the booth. "You wanna get out of here?"

She looked at him and he smirked to see her beautiful brown eyes glazed over. He was pretty sure they were like that because of the alcohol, but he had hoped a little bit of it was because she was overcome with desire for him. A guy can dream anyways.

"Yeah...I think I'm done," she said with a hiccup, which caused her to giggle.

"Come on, baby," he said as he moved out of the booth and held out his hand for her to take. He was mildly surprised when she actually took his hand and didn't slap him away. Another victory, he thought to himself. He counted it as a double victory when he put his arm around her waist and she didn't scream and punch him. Maybe she was starting to come around; or maybe she was just drunk.

Randy was able to hold his liquor better than Jenna and had convinced her that he was all right to drive. The ride back to her house was quiet until she finally said something. "Why did Cody keep sleeping with Layla?" she asked quietly as she stared out the window.

"What was that?" he replied. She had spoken so softly he didn't quite catch what she said.

"What was so wrong with me that my husband had to turn to another woman? He promised, he swore up and down that he only loved me."

Randy sighed. She was drunk and wanted to talk about her ex. Great. "I'm pretty sure I told you this before, Jenna. There is nothing wrong with you; you're prefect and Cody is an idiot for not being able to see that."

"Yeah, yeah yeah. Oh, Jenna, so perfect, so pretty, the perfect everything, Homecoming Queen, Prom Queen, Valedictorian, blah blah blah. I don't want to be perfect; I want to be me. And I am **not** perfect!" she said with a growl. "I didn't want to divorce him, but he didn't leave me any choice. Why her? Why Layla?" she got out before she started sobbing.

"Shit..." Randy mumbled to himself. It didn't look like he was going to be able to make his move tonight; not while she was bawling over Cody. He wasn't even here and he was ruining his date with Jenna.

"I'm sorry...I don't mean to be a big bawl baby or anything, but I just really, really miss him sometimes and I feel horrible thinking about all the awful things I said to him."

"You'll be fine," he said softly as he placed his hand on her exposed knee, stroking the silky fabric of her stockings. He held in a groan as she placed her hand over his. "I can help you forget him..." he trailed off as his hand moved up to her thigh, fingering the top of her lacy stockings. "You just have to let me."

"But if I let you do it once, you're gonna keep coming around and thinking that you can have it again..." she mumbled.

"Is that such a bad thing?" he asked as he pulled into her driveway and shut the truck off. He shifted in the seat so he was facing her. He kept one hand on her thigh and brought the other one up to push her hair over her shoulder.

"I don't know..." she murmured.

Deciding to take a chance, the worst she could do was slap him away, he leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. Another victory, he thought to himself, as she didn't push him away but instead returned the kiss. After the kiss broke, she opened her eyes and whispered, "You're not staying the night so get that idea out of your head. This was just a kiss..." she trailed off before she opened the passenger door and carefully got out of the truck and headed towards the house. Randy was confused; was she inviting him in or was she saying good-night? Smirking, he decided that the only way he was going to find out was to follow her into the house.


	31. Unexpected

**Chapter 31**

Randy locked the front door behind him and wandered in to the kitchen where Jenna was making herself a drink. He smiled when he saw that she actually had two glasses on the counter; he was right, she did want him to follow her. Maybe she was finally giving in to her attraction to him. He sat down on a chair at the counter and smirked at her. "Come here," he growled softly. She looked up at him, surprised that he would talk to her that way. Feeling like she was without inhibitions, she complied and walked around the counter with a drink for him in her hand. He carefully took the drink from her and set it on the counter. She watched him with mild interest, wondering what he wanted. She got her answer when he wrapped his strong arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. Her dress rode up and he groaned softly when he looked down at saw the soft material bunched up around her waist, leaving the top of her toned thighs exposed. He slowly leaned in and kissed her gently at first, but soon his desire for her won out and he started to kiss her with more passion and his hands started to wander. He counted another victory for him when he felt her arms wrap around his neck and she started to slowly stroke the hair on the back of his neck.

His lips moved to her ear, "Let's take this in the bedroom..." he softly growled, causing her to tremble against him. Without even realizing that she was nodding, she reached over took a big drink out of Randy's glass and slid off of his lap. She grabbed the glass and headed towards her bedroom, looking back once to see if he was following her.

.

.

.

Randy stood behind her and slowly pulled down the zipper on her little black dress, letting out a soft growl at the sight of her bare flesh teasing him. "Jenna..." he whispered into the back of her neck. She slowly turned around and faced him as her dress fell to the floor, pooling around her stilettos, leaving her to stand before him in just her black panties and stockings. "I want you..." he murmured as he started to lightly finger the top of her panties. "Do you want me?" he asked as he wrapped his strong arms around her slender waist.

She looked at him for a few seconds, her brown eyes glazed over with the effects of the whiskey. "I...I don't know," she stuttered. "We shouldn't do this..." she mumbled as it finally clicked with her what she had started to do with him. She moved away from him and looked around for something to put on, a t-shirt or nightgown, something. Randy lightly grabbed her arm.

"Jenna, we're not doing anything wrong. He left you. He doesn't want you anymore," Randy said softly as he refused to call Cody by his name; if he did that she might start to cry again and that would just ruin the moment; he needed to convince her that she didn't need Cody anymore "It looks like he made his decision, he made a baby with her, something he promised to only do you with you. Do you remember how much it hurt when you found that out," he said softly as he reached out to lift her chin so she was looking at him. Randy knew he was laying it on thick right now; hell, he would say anything right now just to be able to fulfill his desire for her. He had to have her. "You're a free woman, you could have any man that you wanted. You should give me a chance..." he whispered as he leaned down to capture her mouth in a soft kiss. She let him kiss her for a moment and then broke the kiss; this wasn't right, she shouldn't be doing this—especially with someone like Randy who might not have the best of intentions with her.

Jenna shook her head and moved away from him. "I can't do this...I can't do this. Maybe you should leave," she mumbled as she found a nightgown in the top dresser drawer. She quickly pulled it over her head and sat down on the edge of the bed; the room was starting to spin. Randy sat down next to her and put an arm around her shoulders.

"Let me stay tonight," he growled in her ear. Jenna shook her head. "I won't do anything; I just don't think you should be alone tonight. I promise I won't try anything; just let me lay next to you."

She stared at him for a minute and finally was realized that she was too tired and drunk to argue with him anymore. "Fine..." she mumbled.

Randy smirked as he held her arm as she slipped her high heels off. He wanted to offer to take those stockings off for her, but decided not to push his luck, she was starting to give in, he had to keep reminding himself to be patient and take it slow with her; she would eventually come around. He watched with lust filled eyes as she slowly took her stockings off and set them on her dresser. She leaned against the dresser and tilted her head to the side, waiting to see if he was going to climb into her bed or it he was going to do the right thing and leave. It scared Jenna a little to think that she would be slightly disappointed if he actually did leave.

He lifted his shirt over his head and tossed it on to a chair; he smirked when he saw her eyes grow wide with appreciation. "See something you like?" he said softly as he ran his hands over his rock hard abs. She just shrugged her shoulders and pulled back the covers on her bed and slowly climbed in as she watched her former arch enemy strip himself down to his boxer shorts and walk towards her bed. Former arch enemy, she thought to herself. What was going on with her lately? She hadn't been able to stand this man for as long as she's known him, but now she was actually all right with him sleeping in her bed.

She closed her eyes and leaned back against the pillow; she would worry about it in the morning, right now she needed sleep. She felt the bed shift as he crawled in next to her. "Lay down," he growled. She rolled her eyes, but still laid down on her side, her back facing him. Randy immediately moved behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her waist, kissed her neck and whispered. "Sleep..."

.

.

Some time during the middle of the night, Jenna had rolled over and had laid her head on Randy's chest. The feeling of her moving around in the bed woke him up and he wasn't sure if was going to be able to go back to sleep with her so close to him. He kissed the top of her head and closed his eyes, begging sleep to come back to him.

.

.

The next morning, Jenna woke up late with a pounding headache. She couldn't move, someone had their arms wrapped around her too tightly. She gently pushed away and immediately felt sick to her stomach when she realized that Randy Orton was in her bed and not Cody. "Shit," she mumbled as she sat up in bed and was about to get out of the bed when Randy pulled her on top of him. "Where you goin'?" he mumbled.

"Bathroom."

"Hmmm...no, stay in bed with me," he said sleepily.

"I'll be right back," she said softly as she untangled herself from him and headed down the hall into the bathroom. She caught a glimpse of her reflection in the mirror and was surprised at what she saw staring back at her; she was actually smiling...


	32. Intentional

**Chapter 32**

Cody was ready to pull his hair out; Mandy was choosing this morning to be a terror. She was bored and tired of playing in the hotel room that Cody had rented for the weekend. He wished that Jenna hadn't moved out of Atlanta; because then at least Mandy would have had her own toys to keep her occupied.

"I wanna go see mama!" Mandy shouted as she jumped up and down on the bed. "I don't like it here!"

"Mandy stop jumping," Cody said with what little patience he had left.

"No!" she shouted defiantly at her father and continued with her jumping and screeching.

"Mandy, I said stop!" Cody said with a little more force, he was about to get out of the chair he had been sitting in and was going to grab the little girl off of the bed when his cell phone rang. He growled and rolled his eyes when he saw who was calling: Layla.

"Yeah?" he said into the phone distractedly while he watched Mandy jump higher and higher on the bed.

"Cody," she cooed. "Where are you? I tried calling your house-"

"Amanda Sue! Stop jumping!" Cody shouted at his daughter who stuck her tongue out in response to her father's warnings.

"Cody, what is going on?"

"Mandy is being a terror this morning..." he said before he was interrupted with a loud thump and a loud wail. "Shit, I gotta call you back," he said as he hung up the phone and ran across the room where Mandy was laying on the floor, sobbing hysterically.

"Mandy...I told you to stop jumping," he said gently as he pulled the little girl into his arms.

"I want mommy!" she screeched as tears started streaming down her face.

"Me too, baby. Me too," Cody mumbled as he held the little girl close, desperately trying to soothe her pain away.

.

.

.

Jenna broke the kiss and took a second to breathe before Randy's mouth covered hers again and his fingers gently tangled in her hair and pulled. She bit his bottom lip in response to the pressure on her hair. He broke the kiss and immediately moved his mouth down to her neck, nipping and licking, making her purr in delight.

"Jenna..." he breathed in her ear. "We have to stop. Now. Unless you want to go further with me," he whispered before he brought a hand up to palm her right breast. She let out a sigh of contentment and nodded as she slowly pushed him away.

She moved away from him and sat up on her side of the bed, glancing at the alarm clock beside the bed she was shocked to see that it was almost noon. Her and Randy had slept their hangovers off until about nine, then...well, Jenna wasn't sure what had happened. She had finally given in to Randy; after she came back from the bathroom, he pulled her close and just held her. One kiss led to another and the next thing Jenna knew, they were in the middle of a heavy make-out session. It surprised her that he had shown her self control and had stopped when he did.

Randy settled in next to her and pulled her close to him. "Even though we didn't fuck, that was still hot," he murmured in her ear, causing her to shiver in his arms when his hot breath hit her ear. She nodded in agreement. This was all moving too fast for her; she still wasn't even sure if she actually liked Randy. All she knew right now is that she was attracted to him and that she could actually tolerate him right now.

Jenna moved off of the bed and pulled on a pair of jeans underneath her nightgown, then looked around for a tank top; finding a white one, she pulled it over her head and turned back around to face Randy, who was still sitting on her bed, in his boxers, smirking at her. "Come here," he growled softly, holding out his arms for her. Slowly, she walked back over to the bed and into his arms; he immediately captured her mouth in a kiss and laid her down. He broke the kiss as he hovered over her. "Have I ever told you how beautiful you are, Jenna?" he whispered before he took over her mouth again.

At the sound of the doorbell ringing, Jenna started to push Randy away. "What are you doing," he mumbled in her ear, not wanting to be away from her body right now.

"Doorbell," she mumbled before he kissed her again. Her mouth was addicting, he was finding it hard to resist her.

"Leave it..." he growled as he pulled her closer to him again. Once again, she pushed him away, letting him know that no matter what **he** thought, she was in control of...well whatever the hell this was between them right now.

Jenna rolled her eyes at him and moved off the bed and headed down the hallway to answer the front door. She wasn't sure who it could possibly be; she didn't know anyone in town, besides Randy. She got quite the shock when she opened the door and a tear stained Mandy and frustrated Cody were standing there. Mandy immediately launched herself into her mother's arms, resuming her crying. Jenna shot a glare at her ex-husband and moved aside so he could come inside.

She went to sit down on the couch in the living room, holding her sobbing daughter in her arms. Cody followed her into the living room and sat down on a recliner, leaning back and staring at the ceiling. "Rough day?" she asked him quietly. He simply nodded in agreement. "What happened, sweetie?" she whispered to Mandy.

"I fell off the bed and bumped my arm and it hurt and I want my mommy!" she wailed as she started bawling again and burying her little head into her mother's neck.

"How did she fall off the bed? And why..." she stopped herself.

"She was jumping on the bed and fell off. She's been a terror all morning," Cody said quietly as he finally turned his gaze to Jenna.

"So...you came back here?" she asked confused.

"She said she wanted her mommy."

"Daddy said he wanted you too," Mandy sniffled as she raised her head to look at Jenna. "Daddy has an owie too," the little girl said sadly.

Quietly, Cody got up from the chair and sat down next to Jenna and Mandy on the couch. "I miss you, Jen," he whispered. He was about to open his mouth to say more, when he looked up and saw Randy, only in his boxer shorts, standing at the entrance of the living room. "What the fuck is he doing here?" Cody growled.

"Daddy! Bad word. Time out," Mandy mumbled as she hugged her mom tighter.

"Jenna...answer me. Why is Orton here, and why is he in his underwear?" Cody asked again. He looked at her and then saw red. Her neck was covered in 'love bites'. He knew what her and Randy had been up to before he came over. "Mandy. Go play in your room," Cody said quietly, trying to keep his anger in check in front of the little girl.

Mandy sighed, climbed off her mother's lap and headed towards her room. She gave Randy a soft hello, unlike the usual excited screeching she usually did when she saw her friend Randy. After Cody was sure that the girl was out of the room, he stood up and faced Randy.

"What the hell are you doing here?" Cody growled at him.

Randy smirked. "Spending time with Jenna. What are you doing here?"

"I brought **our** daughter home to see her **mother**."

"Why? Can't handle being a dad for more than an hour?" Randy said sarcastically.

"Stop," Jenna said softly as she placed her head in her hands. Why now? Why did Cody have to do this now? She knew Randy would never back down from a fight; especially when it came to Cody.

Both men ignored her. "I can handle being a father. My daughter wanted to see her mother. What the fuck are you doing here, and what the fuck do you think you're doing with Jenna?" 

Randy chuckled. "I don't kiss and tell," he said gruffly as he stared Cody down.

"Stop!" Jenna said again, a little louder this time. "Cody, are you done spending time with Mandy?" she asked him.

Cody shook his head. "No, she wanted to come see you and I was going to ask you out to lunch to see if we could talk..."

"I don't have anything to say to you," she replied back snappily.

"That's where you're wrong, Jen. We have a lot to talk-" Randy cut him off.

"I think she's made it quite clear that she doesn't have anything to say to you, Cody. Maybe you should just leave," Randy interrupted him.

Cody stared Randy down, as he looked at his former friend, he was filled with rage. Then he looked over at Jenna; he was filled with disgust. "Fine," he said as he walked towards the door.

"Aren't you taking Mandy with you?" Jenna asked.

Cody let out a dry chuckle. "No. She wants her mommy," Cody said before he opened the door and walked out. Jenna immediately jumped off the couch and ran after him.

"Cody! What are you doing? Are you just leaving her here? This was supposed to be her time with you!" she called after him. She knew that Mandy's heard would be broken if Cody didn't say good-bye to her.

As Cody opened the door to his rental car, he glared at her. "Seems like she doesn't need me, Jen. She wants her mommy and mommy's **new friend**, Randy," he shouted at her before he got in the car and tore off down the street, leaving Jenna standing in the front yard, with the threat of tears welling up in her eyes.

Randy watched sadly from the living room window. He would never make her intentionally cry like that...


	33. Clicking

**Chapter 33**

Jenna watched Cody speed off down the road; wiping tears that had fallen down her face, she took a deep breath and walked back inside the house. Even though she acted tough in front of Cody and acted like she didn't want anything to do with him, she still loved him, still ached for his touch. Watching him drive away in anger, hurt her more inside than she could let on; she sighed and turned around and headed back into the house, she was going to have to deal with a very disappointed little girl in a few seconds.

Randy was waiting in the living room for her when she came back into the room. He had gotten dressed and was sitting on the couch next to Mandy, who was happily chatting away to her friend, telling him about the injury she got this morning but that she was all right now, because mommy had kissed it better, and that her mommy was basically a miracle worker.

When Jenna walked in and sat down in a chair across the room, Mandy realized that her daddy wasn't with her. "Where did daddy go?" she asked confused that daddy had just been here a minute ago.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she looked at Randy. "Um...daddy had to go back to Atlanta,"

Jenna whispered.

"But...he was supposed to play with me today," Mandy whispered as her bottom lip trembled. "I've been waiting a long time to play with daddy. We don't live at Nana's anymore...he lives so far away and he's always working..."

"I know, baby, but um. He had to go back home; he has to go to work."

Tears started to stream down the little girl's face. "But...why did daddy leave? He said we were going to play all day until he had to go back to work. Why did he leave? Doesn't he love me?" she said before she started sobbing. Jenna felt her heart breaking. How could Cody do this to their little girl?

Before Jenna could get over to the couch to comfort her little girl, Randy pulled Mandy into his lap and hugged her, letting her sob on his broad chest. "Shhhhhhhh...you're fine, Mandy..." he mumbled to her. "You'll see your daddy soon...shhhhhhh, little one."

Mandy continued to cry, while Jenna watched helplessly as Randy comforted the little girl. Watching him act so tender and gentle with Mandy made something click in Jenna's head. Randy wasn't looking just to get laid, he wanted more...the question was if Jenna was willing to give it to him.

.

.

"You did what, son?" Virgil asked in disbelief. Cody had called his father as soon as his flight had landed in Georgia.

"I walked out on Mandy and Jenna," Cody said softly; embarrassed and ashamed of himself now that he had actually said the words out loud.

"How the hell could you do that, son? I mean. I don't...What the hell is wrong with you, boy?"

"I don't know...I was bringing Mandy back over to Jenna's so she could get some of her toys and then I was hoping to take Jen out to lunch so we could talk..."

"All right. But that doesn't explain why you just left, son." Virgil was trying to hold his temper; he knew he son was frustrated with his ex-wife and how she had moved to another state without talking to him about it and how now he was going to really have to make an effort to see his daughter when he was off the road.

"Randy Orton was standing in her living room."

"So? What's the big deal, son? You knew that he lived in St. Louis and that eventually they might run into each other-"

"He was in his boxers, dad."

Virgil was silent for a few seconds. "Well, hell."

"Exactly," Cody said as he pulled his truck into the driveway.

"Why does that bother you so much?"

Was his father serious? "Jenna is my-"

Virgil cut him off. "Ex-wife, son. Before you even start with what you were gonna say, stop and think about what you were going to say. You and Jenna are divorced. There is no more Cody and Jenna. It's over, son."

"Yeah, but Randy-"

"Is doing what any other man would do if they saw a good lookin' woman like Jenna without a husband. Don't get mad at him, Codes. If I remember right, it didn't sound like you wanted to be married to Jenna anyways, they way you kept hanging around that devil woman, Layla."

"She's pregnant," Cody blurted out. He hadn't told his family that Layla was carrying his baby yet. He had already disappointed them when he and Jenna divorced; the two had fought so hard to get back together and to start a family and then not even two weeks later, he fucked it all up.

"She's what? Who's pregnant?" Virgil shouted.

"Pregnant. Layla. That's why Jenna left me. I got Layla pregnant," Cody said softly, mentally kicking himself in the ass once again for being such a dumb ass.

"I'll be damned. How far along is she? And why didn't you tell me earlier?"

"Almost six months I think."

"Well, what the hell are you going to do? Son, you have a lot of things to think about right now. You need to think about how you're going to make it up to that little grandbaby of mine for walking out on her, you need to figure out a way to coexist with the lovely Jenna so you can see that baby, and you need to figure out what you're gonna do with that new baby you got on the way. You just got yourself into a whole mess of trouble, boy."

"I know, dad. I know. I just don't know how to fix it all."

"Here's a suggestion: call Jenna and beg for forgiveness, and you better hope that she forgives you. Because if there is one thing that I know, it's that a woman can hold a grudge for a long time, son. And if you want a chance at seeing that little girl, you better start groveling."

.

.

After lunch, Mandy finally fell asleep for her afternoon nap, leaving Jenna and Randy alone in the living room. "I should go home and shower," he said softly as he turned to her.

She nodded. "Are you going to be all right?"

She shook her head and tried to stop the tears before they started. "Hey now..." he growled softly as he put a big arm around her shoulders. "Don't cry..."

"Why is he doing this to us? He...promised me that he wasn't going to see her anymore, but then she got pregnant and now he's gone forever and he just walked out on his kid..." she mumbled into Randy's shoulder.

"Want me to kick his ass?" Randy joked, hoping to get to see that pretty smile of hers.

"No...well. Yeah, but it's not going to fix anything."

"I'd do anything for you, Jenna."

"It feels like we're moving too fast. I hated you two days ago," she sniffed as she avoided his eyes.

"That was two days ago. How do you feel about me now?" he asked as he lifted her chin gently to look at him.

"I don't know."

He sighed and let go of her and stood up. "I'm going home to shower. I have to be back on road tomorrow morning for a couple of days..."

She nodded, very well aware of the hectic schedule of a pro wrestler. "Do you want to hang out tonight?" he asked as he walked towards the front door.

"I guess..." she said softly as she stayed on the couch and pulled her knees up to her chest.

"I'm taking what I can get, so I'll count that as a yes. See you later..."

.

.

.


	34. Doubts

**Chapter 34**

Later that afternoon Randy walked back down the street to Jenna's house. Things were moving fast between them. She was right; she did hate him not even two days ago and now look at them. He had spend the night with her last night and had intended on doing the same thing tonight. He was slowly becoming addicted to her touch, her kisses, her smile.

As he walked up the front walk, he said little Mandy standing on the couch looking out the big window. She started jumping up and down when she saw him get closer to the house. He smiled a little when he heard her shout, "Mama! Randy's here!"

A few seconds later the front door opened and Mandy came barreling out the front door and into Randy's arms. He hugged the little girl back and for the first time thought that maybe he could used to this. He had never thought much about kids before, but there was something about Jenna and Mandy that was beginning to change his mind a little.

Jenna came to the door and waved Mandy to come back inside. She actually gave Randy a small smile when he came in after the little girl. "Hey," she said softly. "Did you eat dinner yet?" she asked as she made her way into the kitchen. Randy smiled as he smelled the chicken she was making for dinner. He was starving and it had been so long since a woman had cooked him a home cooked meal. Well, his mother didn't count.

"No, I'm starving," he replied as he sat down at the kitchen table. Mandy came skipping into the kitchen and sat down next to Randy, plopping her case of crayons and two coloring books on the table.

"Do you want to color?" she asked with a bright smile on her face. It amazed him that not even five hours ago, she was bawling her eyes out over her daddy leaving and now she was her normal self, giggling and talking a mile a minute.

"Sure," he said as he reached for a coloring book.

Mandy stopped him. "No! You use the Hello Kitty one, I want to use Mickey Mouse," she said sternly.

"Amanda. Don't be bossy," Jenna warned from the stove.

"Yeah, only your mommy gets to get bossy with me," he said softly as he looked at the look on Jenna's face when he said that. He winked at her with a smirk and started to color with Mandy.

.

.

.

"Cody what the hell is wrong with you?" Ted asked from across the table. Ted had stopped by Cody's place after Cody had called and begged him to come over and figure out what the hell to do with Jenna, Layla and Mandy. His earlier phone call with his father had him thinking about a lot of things; mainly how to get Jenna back into his arms. It was going to be hard, they were legally divorced, but knowing Jenna as well as he did, he knew that Jenna still loved him, even if it was a little bit. The problem was what he was going to do with Layla. She was pregnant and like it or not, his dad was right. He was going to have a tie to Layla for the rest of his life.

"I don't know, man. That's the thing. I got no idea what's wrong. The whole thing with Layla just kind of happened-"

"Codes, things like that with Layla, do not just happen, and you know that. I still can't believe that you had been sleeping with her after Jenna moved back in with you the first time. How could you be so stupid? What are you going to do about that baby she's carrying?"

"I don't know!" Cody shouted in frustration. He caught a glare from his best friend before he headed into the kitchen to grab two beers. He offered one to Ted as a peace offering. "Sorry, man. I'm just so torn up over this thing with Jenna. And now after what happened with Mandy, she probably won't let me see my kid anymore."

"Jenna won't do that. You know she's not a bitch like that. I could see Layla doing something like that, but not Jenna."

"Yeah, I know, but I can just imagine how upset Mandy was after I left. I made Jenna cry," Cody said softly, not at all proud of the fact that he made his ex-wife cry.

"Why do you do things like that? Did it make you happy to see her crying?" Ted asked, his voice tinged with a little bit of anger. He had always liked Jenna and absolutely adored his goddaughter Mandy.

"Hell no it didn't make me happy to make her cry. She just...she knows how to push my buttons and the whole thing with Randy-"

"Wait," Ted interrupted. "What thing with Randy?"

"I think they're sleeping together."

"Huh."

"Huh? What do you mean huh? Do you know something Ted?"

"No. I just...I don't think Jenna would do that. Especially with someone like Randy. She hates him."

"Yeah, but then why was he in his boxers in her living room? Why did she have hickeys all her neck? Why was her hair all messed up and why were her lips all swollen? She's sleeping with him! Plus she never denied it when I asked her about it. That tells me right there that they are sleeping together. And they're doing it when Mandy is in the house!"

"Cody, calm down. I'm sure they're not."

"I can't calm down. I can't calm down knowing that Orton's had his slimy hands all over my beautiful Jenna."

"That's the thing, Codes. She's not 'your Jenna' anymore. You let go of that when you kept sleeping with Layla."

Cody had nothing to say in return; his friend was right. He had thrown it all away when he started sleeping with Layla again.

.

.

.

Layla paced nervously around her apartment. She hadn't heard from Cody in a few days and she was starting to get nervous. This 'brilliant plan' that her and Randy had come up with wasn't working in her favor at all. She was sure that it was working out all right for him, but her? She was knocked up with Cody's baby and he could care less. He did end up getting divorced from Jenna, which was a step in the right direction, but he hadn't been too terribly attentive to her since she told him she was expecting.

She sighed and picked up her cell phone; no messages or missed calls from Cody. This was killing her, she knew that he was home in Atlanta at least until tomorrow then he would start traveling again. She had checked his schedule the last time he was here and it was going to be at least a month before he was scheduled to be in Florida again. She couldn't wait that long; she had to be closer to him.

She dialed the phone as she tried to figure out a way to get closer to him. It finally came to her before he picked up the phone; she would insist that since she was carrying his baby, that she should move into his house in Atlanta with him so she could get spend time getting a nursery set up for their new baby. She knew that right now he might not be too excited about the baby, but she was certain that once the kid was born, he would be excited...right?


	35. Sometimes You Just Have to Give in

**Chapter 35**

"What time do you have to be on the road tomorrow?" Jenna asked softly as her and Randy sat on the couch together after she had put Mandy to bed.

"I need to leave around ten," he said quietly as he tentatively put his arm around her slender shoulders. Another small victory when she didn't push him away. He liked this Jenna; she was pleasant when she wasn't being a bitch.

"I see..." she trailed off, trying not to look at him. Today had been pleasant enough; Mandy had spent the day giggling at Randy and coloring with him. Jenna had actually managed to get a little bit of work done while they played together. Every once in a while, she would find herself watching Randy and her daughter interact; she used to giggle and look at Cody with that same adoring look that she was giving Randy right now. And that was scaring her. Because Mandy should still be looking at Cody like that; not Randy.

"You see what?" he whispered. "That I'm not such a bad guy and that you should give me a chance?"

"This is just really weird," she mumbled.

"What's so weird about it? I like you, Jenna. I like spending time with you. Do you like hanging out with me? You must. I've been here everyday since Friday. If you didn't like me, you would have kicked me out by now. Hell, you made out with me for three hours this morning. You're falling for me, I know you are."

"This is moving way too fast. I just got divorced-"

"Yeah, and there's a reason that happened. He fucked up. He obviously didn't love you as much as you thought he did."

Jenna was silent for a minute; she didn't want to think about Cody not loving her. She had loved him since she was 15 and she had been sure that he had felt same the way for all those years. What changed? What happened that made him turn away from her?

"You should just give in to whatever it is your feeling with me and just...let it happen," he whispered as he moved in to capture her sweet mouth in a gentle kiss. He could stop counting small victories now; he had won.

.

.

.

Cody was in his garage messing around with something or other when he heard a car pull up into the driveway. He looked up, not sure who would be pulling into his driveway right now; he wasn't expecting anyone. The little red car stopped and Layla stepped out, her pregnant belly starting to protrude a little bit more under her tank top. Cody's mind wandered back to when Jenna was pregnant with Mandy and how beautiful he thought she had looked with a large belly. She had a glow about her that made her more beautiful than she already was. He hated to be away from her for even a day. He couldn't keep his hands off of her some nights.

He stepped out of the garage and crossed his arms across his chest. "Layla. What are you doing here?" he asked softly. He was reminding himself to be nice to her; after the conversation with his father earlier, he knew that he had some sort of responsibility towards her and he should at least be civil.

"Cody...I know you weren't expecting me, but I think we need to talk."

"About what?"

"Us. Me. You. Our baby."

Cody held back a groan. Did Layla just really drive all the way to Georgia to talk about this? "Why didn't you call?" he asked softly as he took her by the hand and led her into the garage to sit down.

"I..I didn't think you would pick up the phone. Cody, I'm scared. I don't want to have this baby by myself. You helped make this baby, you should help take care of it."

Cody was silent for a few minutes before he let out a big sigh and nodded. "You're right, Layla. I'm...I'm sorry for being such a jerk the last couple of months. What can I do to help?"

Layla smiled. "I think I should move in and start getting a bedroom ready for a nursery..."

He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. "That...sounds like a good idea. We only have a couple of months left to get ready. Mandy's room-"

"No. Our baby needs a new room. If you don't have an extra bedroom, then we'll need to completely redo that room."

"Ok..." he said slowly as he watched her stand up and started walking towards the house.

Cody numbly listened to the excited plans that Layla was starting to make for the house and the upcoming baby. Maybe his dad was right, maybe it was time to let Jenna go. Maybe she would be happier without him. It just felt weird to him, deciding to stop loving someone that he had loved for so long. But he had made his decision when he continued to see Layla; he was just going to have to learn to live with that decision now.

.

.

.

_**Three Months Later**_

"Mama? When is Randy going to be here?" Mandy whined while she hopped up and down on one foot, slowly driving Jenna insane.

Jenna sighed and closed her eyes. "Amanda, we've been over this. He will be here as soon as his airplane lands; which should be soon. Please be patient."

Mandy let out a little sigh of frustration; she had been anxiously awaiting this weekend for weeks now. This weekend they would be celebrating her fourth birthday. Nana and Gpa had driven from Marietta last night and were on their way right now from their hotel. Grandpa Virgil was already here and was helping mama set up the backyard for the party tomorrow. Randy was supposed to be flying in today. And best of all, her daddy was coming too! Cody was bringing his 'special friend' Layla too. Mandy was excited when she found out that she was going to be a big sister, even though she didn't quite understand how she was going to be a big sister; mama wasn't having a baby. It was all very confusing for the little girl. But it didn't matter right now, because everyone that she loved so much was coming to St. Louis to celebrate her birthday with her.

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Randy had just pulled into his driveway. He smiled to himself as he looked down the street and saw Jenna's house. Things had been moving along nicely for the new couple, slow, but moving along nonetheless. She was finally starting to come around. She actually sounded happy to talk to him every night; something he did regardless of what he had going on, he had to hear her soft voice. She was falling for him, just like he had planned all along.

He couldn't wait to wrap his arms around her slender body and hold her close to him. He missed her, he missed her scent, he missed her soft laughter, he missed the way she rolled her pretty brown eyes at him all the time. Whenever he was home from the road, he would spend every possible moment with her. They hadn't made love yet; normally he would have already left any other woman who wouldn't have given into him. But Jenna was different. He would wait for her. As long as it took.


	36. Can't Stop

**Note: Longer, more dramatic update. Keep those reviews coming. Thanks much!**

**Chapter 36**

"Cody, I really don't want to do this," Layla whined as they pulled onto the street where his ex-wife lived.

"I know, but you didn't want to stay home by yourself, and if I didn't come out here for Mandy's birthday, Jenna would have killed me," he replied carefully.

"Does Jenna even know I'm coming with?"

Cody was silent for a few seconds before Layla asked again. "Cody. Does your ex-wife know that I'm coming with you this weekend?" she asked with a little bit more force.

"Yeah..."

"And what did she say?"

"Layla, I don't want to talk about it. It's fine."

"No, it's not fine. What did that little bitch say about me?" she started to raise her voice.

"Don't call her that," Cody warned.

"I'll say whatever I want about her."

Cody's jaw clenched as he fought to control his temper right now. "She didn't really say anything. She just asked that since I haven't seen Amanda in a few months, that I take the time to spend some quality time with her." He left out the part where Jenna freaked out and said 'hell no' to the suggestion of bringing Layla with in the first place. Jenna would just have to get over it.

"What the hell does that mean," Layla shot back. She was feeling extremely insecure about her relationship with Cody right now. Blame it on the fact that she was eight months pregnant and her hormones and emotions were out of control, or blame it on her just being jealous of Jenna, but all she knew is that she did not want to be in St. Louis right now.

"Nothing. Just that I haven't seen our kid in a while and that she misses me. Please be nice to Jenna this weekend."

Layla crossed her arms across her chest and stuck out her bottom lip stubbornly. "Fine. But only because you asked. But don't think that I won't hesitate to let her have it if she starts anything."

"All I'm asking is that you be nice, Layla. That's all," Cody said quietly as he pulled up in front of Jenna's house.

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"Jenna Kay...when are we going to meet this new young man," Alice Andrews asked as she sat at Jenna's kitchen table, anxious to hear about the new man in her daughter's life.

Jim Andrews sat down next to Alice and awaited an answer from Jenna. On one hand he was glad that Cody Runnels was finally out of Jenna's life, but on the other hand, he knew how much his only daughter still missed him. He too was anxious to hear about the new fellow who had captured his daughter's attention.

"Later today I think. His flight should have already came in," Jenna said carefully.

"Oh. Was he traveling for work?" Alice asked.

"Yes..." Jenna trailed off. She hadn't told her parents yet that her new...boyfriend...was a wrestler like Cody was. It was still weird for Jenna to refer to Randy as her boyfriend. But for whatever strange reason, she actually found herself liking Randy the way that he liked her. What scared her the most was that Amanda was becoming attached to Randy rather quickly; and that was mostly because Cody hadn't lived up to be the father to her that he had always promised that he would be.

"What does he do?" Jim asked warily.

"Um...he's a wrestler..." Jenna said quietly with her head down, waiting for backlash from her parents. They had despised Cody's career and had hoped that their daughter would have more sense than to start a relationship with another man who had the same career.

"Damn it, Jenna Kay. Another one?" Jim asked as he closed his eyes in frustration. "Why can't you find a nice young doctor to date or even a businessman? What is it about these...wrestlers that you find so appealing?"

"I don't know..."

"Do you honestly think that this new relationship would turn out any better than the one with that Cody?" Jim asked in frustration.

Jenna was about to answer her father when she was saved by the ringing of the doorbell. Before she even made it out of the kitchen, she heard Mandy's little feet racing to see who was waiting on the other side of the door. She caught her daughter before Mandy flung the door open. "Mandy, you do not open the front door without mama..." she said quietly before she peeked behind the curtain. She wanted to scream. Cody was there. With Layla. "It's ok, you can open the door," she said softly as she moved away from the door.

Mandy let out an excited squeal when she opened the door and saw her daddy standing there. "Daddy!" she screamed as she flung herself into Cody's waiting arms. "Hey, pumpkin pie," Cody murmured as he held his daughter close. It had been at least three months since he had last seen her; he had tried to call her once a week when his schedule let him, but talking to his little girl on the phone wasn't nearly the same as holding her in his arms.

Cody picked up the little girl and motioned for Layla to follow him inside. He set Mandy down. "Pumpkin, this is daddy's special friend, Layla. Can you say hello?" he asked quietly while avoiding Jenna. He knew that she was standing off to the side, so to not interrupt the reunion between Mandy and Cody.

Layla tried to bend down to Mandy's eye level, but her huge belly was in the way. "Hi, Mandy. I'm Layla. I'm so happy to meet you! Is tomorrow your birthday?" she asked cheerfully.

Mandy took one look at Layla's pregnant belly and nodded. "Mama?" she asked quietly before she turned around and looked for her mother. Jenna stepped back into the room and held out her hand for Mandy to take.

"Hello, Cody," Jenna said politely. She nodded to Layla. Jenna refused to speak to her. Cody had told Jenna that he was bringing Layla with, because 'she's part of my life now'. Jenna had put up a small fight, but eventually gave up arguing with him.

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Jenna watched Cody and his father argue about something related to the wrestling business while her own father tried to follow the conversation, but was growing frustrated at not being able to understand the appeal of traveling almost every week and being beat up in the ring. Alice was trying to be polite and start a conversation with Layla, who in turn was more interested in her cell phone than anything.

Mandy was trying to get her father's attention, but was failing miserably and ended up coming over and crawling onto Jenna's lap. "What's the matter," Jenna whispered in her ear. They were all sitting in the living room waiting for Ted and Randy to eventually show up. Mandy's birthday party wasn't until tomorrow afternoon, but tonight everyone was going out to dinner for a pre-birthday celebration. Ted had called late yesterday and said that he had managed to rearrange his schedule so he would be able to visit for the weekend. Jenna had not told Mandy that her beloved Uncle Ted was coming; it was going to be a surprise.

A few more minutes of strained conversation went by before the doorbell rang. Mandy looked up at her mother with an excited look on her face. Who was coming to see her now? She got up and ran over to the front door, with her mom close by behind her. Jenna nodded and Mandy struggled to open the door. She barely got the door open before she let out a loud squeal, "Uncle Teddy!" she screamed as she flung herself into Ted's arms. "Well, hey Mandy. Happy to see me?" he asked as he laughed as the little girl wrapped her little chubby arms around Ted's neck. He came further inside the house. "Hey, Jen," he said softly as he walked in and set Mandy down who was happily chattering away to her beloved Uncle Ted.

Jenna found herself smiling as she watched how happy her daughter was right now. The front door opened again and Jenna looked up to see who it was. A small smile started on her face when she saw that it was Randy. "Hey," he said quietly as he shut the door behind him and handed her the bouquet of pink gerber daisies he had picked up for her. Mandy broke away from her happy chatter with Uncle Ted and let out yet another squeal of excitement when she saw that her very good friend Randy was here and that he had something in his hand for her. She threw herself into his arms and gave him a great big hug before she asked, "What did you bring me, Randy?"

"Amanda Sue. It's not polite to ask-" Jenna started to say before she was interrupted with another squeal of excitement from her daughter when Randy handed her a brand new baby doll. "Thank you, Randy!' she screamed as she gave him another big hug. "You're welcome," he mumbled back as she jumped out of his arms and ran into the living room to show Nana her new doll.

"Hey," he said again softly as he took a step closer to Jenna and wrapped his arms around her. "Miss me?" he murmured as he started to nuzzle her neck.

"Stop," she whispered back.

"Jenna Kay. Are you going to introduce us to this young man?" Jim asked as he came over to the embracing couple. Jenna pulled away from Randy and nodded.

"Yes, sorry, dad. Randy, these are my parents, Jim and Alice Andrews. Mom, dad, this is Randy Orton," she said quietly, trying like hell to ignore the death glare that Cody was giving her right now.

"Nice to meet both of you," Randy said politely. "I see where Jenna gets her good looks," he said softly to Alice as he winked at her, causing her to blush.

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Half an hour later, the group was seated at a local pizza parlor. Mandy insisted on being able sit in between both her dad and Randy, and Jenna had to to sit directly across from her. If you haven't noticed yet, Mandy is bossy. "Daddy? When is the new baby coming? Why are you having a baby without mama? Is the new baby going to live with us?" Mandy rattled off her interrogation questions at her father. Jenna watched her ex-husband's reaction carefully; she could tell that this was incredibly uncomfortable for him right now. Good, Jenna thought to herself.

"Um. Well, pumpkin. The new baby will here next month," Cody said quietly, trying hard to ignore the glares from both his own father and Jim Andrews.

"Oh. Where will the baby live?" Mandy asked innocently.

"The baby will live with me and Layla in..." he trailed off as he caught Jenna's eyes who were blazing with anger right now. She was right. Layla was living in her house, her old house she corrected her thoughts.

"Oh. Layla, when did you move in?" Jenna asked politely as she ignored the look Randy was giving her right now to stop before she lost her temper.

"About three months ago," Layla said with a big smile at Cody, who was trying hard to ignore her. "It's such a big house and it's becoming quite the job to redecorate. I mean, this baby is coming next month and there is so much to do!"

"What... rooms are you redecorating?" Jenna practically whispered as she swallowed a lump in her throat and willed the tears that were starting to sting her eyes to not fall.

"Hmm...the master bedroom for sure. And we started to redo the first bedroom on the left when you come up the stairs. And then, oh my God, I absolutely had to have the front porch redone. I just couldn't stand-" The first bedroom on the left was Mandy's bedroom. Jenna had heard enough.

"Cody. Can I see you outside please," Jenna interrupted Layla. Cody knew better than to argue with Jenna when she had that look in her eyes. He nodded and got up to follow Jenna. "Mom, please keep an eye on Amanda. I'll be right back. I need to have some words with Cody."

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"Cody, what the hell are you doing?" Jenna hissed at him as soon as they were outside. "What are you thinking bringing her here?"

"Wait a minute. You said it was fine-"

"No, I said it was fine that you came to our daughter's birthday party-"

"That's right, Jen. **Our** daughter's birthday party. Don't forget that I'm still that little girl's father!"

"Maybe if you acted liked her father, and actually came to see her, I wouldn't have forgotten that you were her father!" Jenna shot back. This was going to turn into one of their knock down drag out fights.

"What the hell, Jenna? I don't get you. First you don't want me, then you do, then you don't again. So I signed the damned divorce papers and let you go. I tried to be a good father the best I can, but it's kind of hard to do that when you move out of the fucking state!"

"Do you know what I'm most upset about, Cody?" Jenna said as her tone changed from screaming to eerily calm. This sudden change in her demeanor had always terrified Cody. "It's the fact that you're letting her completely take over your life."

"What do you want me to do, Jenna? You don't want me anymore."

"Why are you letting her do that to our house. Our home. The home that we made together?" Jenna asked softly as tears started to fall down her cheeks.

"I...I..." Cody stuttered as it finally hit him why she was so pissed. He was letting Layla destroy all of the memories in that house that him and Jenna and Mandy had built there. "I'm sorry..." he mumbled as he took a step closer to her. "Jen, I never wanted to hurt you. I'm so sorry..." he whispered as he tentatively reached out an arm to bring her close to him. "I'm really sorry for everything," he whispered as he pulled her into his arms and he rested her forehead against his strong chest as she started to sob, letting out all of the hurt and frustration that she had been holding in for the past six months.

"I still love you, Cody...I can't stop," she half mumbled half sobbed into his chest. Cody pulled away a little bit and lifted her chin gently with his fingers; he gazed into her dark brown eyes trying to figure out if she really meant it. Deciding to stop thinking about it, he just gave in to what felt right and kissed her gently on the mouth...


	37. First Time

**Chapter 37**

Cody broke the kiss and Jenna rested her forehead against his chest, listening to his heart beat rapidly after what she had just told him."You still love me?" he mumbled. "After everything I did to you, and to Mandy, you still love me?" he asked as he pulled away from her and watched tears continue to stream down her face. She nodded and looked down at the ground; all of the pent up emotion that she had been holding in since she found out about him and Layla came pouring out.

"I can't stop. I've tried; these last six months have been hell, Cody. I can't stop loving you; I don't know how," she said before a sob left her mouth and she turned away from him. He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. He looked down at her sad brown eyes, still filled with tears and sincerity.

"Jen..." he said as his blue eyes searched her dark brown ones. They had been through so much since they were teenagers, from quickly eloping, to losing their first baby, she left in the middle of the night and they were reunited finally eight years later and vowed to stay together. The birth of Mandy brought them closer, but something was still missing for Cody and he had messed everything up. Through all of that, she still loved him?

"What are we going to do about this?" he asked softly, still trying to hold her close to his side.

Jenna pulled away and looked down at the ground. "Nothing. We can't do anything; the damage had already been done and we need to move on-"

"But you just said that you still loved me."

"Yeah, but you didn't say it back," she said softly as she walked away from him, leaving him outside the restaurant in the dark, alone with his thoughts. She was right; he didn't say it back. But surely she must know he still loved her and that he couldn't stop either? Right?

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"Everything all right?" Randy growled softly in Jenna's ear as she sat back down next to him. She nodded and rested her head on his shoulder just as Cody walked back into the room. Normally he would have shot Randy a glare, but he forgot about Randy right now and wondered what Jenna had planned to do with him now that she had finally confessed that she still loved him. Would she tell Randy to hit the road and try to reconcile with Cody? If she wanted to do that, what would Cody do with Layla? He had made her some promises, let her move in, and their baby was due to come next month.

Layla let out a loud sigh and Cody took this as his cue to sit down next to his new girlfriend. She immediately started whispering questions about how much longer they had to be here. She was tired and wanted to sleep, she had heartburn and just plain didn't want to be here anymore tonight. She was also tired of the wide eye stare that his daughter kept giving her. The little girl knew something wasn't right about Layla and her dad.

"We'll leave soon," he told her quietly as felt someone tugging at his sleeve. He looked down and smiled as he saw his daughter standing there, practically begging for his attention. Cody picked the little girl up and set her on his lap. While he was listening to Mandy rattle on about something funny Uncle Ted had said, he caught Jenna's eye. She quickly looked away and went back to listening to Randy. Cody had a funny feeling that Jenna's confession tonight was just the beginning of some drama.

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Later that night, after Randy had tucked Mandy into bed and Jenna said good night to her parents, they were finally alone at last. He was standing behind her while her parents were walking out, and as soon as the door shut, he wrapped his arms around her waist and picked her up. She rolled her pretty brown eyes at him while he carried her down the hallway to her bedroom. He softly kicked the bedroom door shut behind them and gently laid her on the bed. Hovering above her for a few minutes, he smiled as he took her all in. He used to think Cody was such a lucky son of a bitch; it was amusing to Randy now that he was considered the lucky one as he bent down and captured Jenna's mouth in a soft, but urgent kiss. "Jenna...I've missed you..." he whispered in her ear as his hands started to wander down to her hips, holding her in place underneath him. "Did you miss me?" he asked softly as he smirked at her and his hands started to wander from her hips to the hem of her shirt; slowly and teasingly, he moved his big hands across her stomach and up to her breasts.

She nodded and pulled him close for a kiss. Her mind was still reeling from what had happened earlier outside the restaurant with Cody tonight. She had let him kiss her and confessed that she still loved him. Of course she was still going to love him. No matter what he had done to her, he was always going to be the 'first'. The first everything...

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_**Flashback – Sophmore Year**_

__She gently pushed him away and asked in a husky voice, "Wanna see my room?" She turned away from him and started up the stairs. He forced himself not to throw her over shoulder and bolt up the stairs. Maybe it was really going to happen right now, a guy can dream anyways.

He followed her up the stairs and into her room. She went over to the stereo, put a cd on and made sure she hit 'repeat'. This was their song tonight. She sat down on the bed, motioning for him to come sit next to her. He stood in front of her, playing with her hair before he gently pushed her back on the bed and crawled on top of her. She put her arms around his neck while his mouth explored her neck, softly nipping at a sensitive spot.

_**We're both looking for something We've been afraid to find It's easier to be broken It's easier to hide Looking at you, holding my breath, For once in my life, I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, letting you inside.**_

She moved her hands down to the hem of his tank top and slowly started pulling it up his back and over his head. Once it was off and thrown on the floor, she started planting small kisses on his muscular chest and arms. He stared down at her with lust in his eyes. Was this really going to happen right now? They had been messing around for months, taking their time together. But both of them felt something pulling them together, not knowing what force was pulling them together, they just went with it.

_**Feeling alive all over again, As deep as the sky, under my skin Like being in love, she says For the first time Maybe I'm wrong, But I'm feeling right where I belong With you tonight Like being in love To feel for the first time**_

He leaned down and kissed her gently on the lips before poking at her mouth with his tongue for access to hers. His mouth vibrated a little with the small sigh that tried coming out of her mouth. His one hand was tangled in her hair, the other one wandering down her side to her stomach so he could lift her shirt up and explore. She didn't protest when his hand went under the hem of her shirt and traveled up her stomach, finally finding her breasts. He gently pinched one nipple, enjoying the gasp of breath she let out in his ear. She pushed against him, sitting up as she pulled her shirt off.

_**The world that I see inside you Waiting to come to life Waking me up to dreaming Reality in your eyes Looking at you, Holding my breath, For once in my life I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, Letting you inside.**_

His arms snaked around her back, fingers fumbling with the clasps on her bra. She kissed his neck while he continued to fumble, after what felt like an eternity to him, he finally got the damn thing unhooked and off of her. He sat back and took her all in; from her beautiful brown eyes, full, soft lips, her long silky hair, her amazing tanned body. He was a lucky guy to be able to get this far with someone like her. She reached out her hand and tugged gently at his shorts, smirking at him, bringing him back to reality. He smiled as he felt her hand unbutton his shorts and pull the zipper down. As his shorts dropped to the ground, her hand was busy pulling his boxer shorts down as he ran his fingers threw her hair. His boxers joined his shorts on the floor. There he stood in front of her, vulnerable. This was the farthest they had gone yet, he wondered if she was brave enough to take it farther.

_**I'm feeling alive all over again As deep as the sky that's under my skin Like being in love, she says, for the first time Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right Where I belong with you tonight Like being in love to feel for the first time We're crashing Into the unknown We're lost in this But it feels like home**_

She ran her fingers up and down his chest and he unbuttoned the button on her shorts and undid the zipper, lifting her hips off the bed so he could pull them off. He smiled as he watched her lay on the bed in just her panties, waiting for him to continue. He bent his head down by the top of her panties and pulled them off of her and down her legs with his teeth. She giggled at the sight of him doing that.

He climbed on top of her, kissing her neck and she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist; she could feel how hard his length was against her thigh. She started to question how brave she really was feeling right. Could she really go through with this? He continued his attack on her neck, occasionally moving his mouth down to kiss her chest, teasing her nipples with a soft bite and then worked his way back up her neck.

_**I'm feeling alive all over again As deep as the sky that's under my skin Like being in love, she says, for the first time Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right Where I belong with you tonight Like being in love to feel for the first time **_

His hands wandered over her body, one slipped in between her thighs. She shivered against him as one finger slipped inside of her. Working his finger in and out of her, he whispered in her ear, "Do you like that?" She could only nod her head as he slipped a second one in. It was painful, but at the same time it felt good; her mouth claimed his in a passionate kiss, her tongue dominating his mouth. He had to be inside her soon or he was going to explode right there on her thigh. He slipped his fingers out of her and brought them to his mouth, tasting her on his fingers as he smiled. He pushed himself off of her, looking around for his shorts. He found them, taking a condom out of his wallet. She stared at him with wide eyes as he put the condom on his throbbing cock. He climbed back on top of her, hovering above her, leaning down to kiss her softly on the lips. His eyes never left hers. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered. "Yes, I'm sure" she whispered back.

He pushed her legs apart, slipping a finger inside her one more time just to make sure she was ready for him. She was. He kissed her hard on the mouth as he pushed his way inside of her. She cried out as she felt him enter her. "I didn't mean to hurt you….just a little bit longer and it will feel better, I promise" he said as he began moving in and out of her slowly, not wanting to go too fast and cause her to cry out in pain again.

_**We're both looking for something We've been afraid to find It's easier to be broken It's easier to hide**_

He felt himself break threw her virginity as she cried out in pain again; he stopped and looked into her eyes to see if she wanted him to stop. She smiled a tiny smile at him that he took as an ok to continue. He leaned down and kissed her again, very softly as he moved his way inside and out of her, thrusting gently. He felt his release coming as he picked up his pace a little.

_**Looking at you, holding my breath, For once in my life, I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, letting you insid**e._

He felt it coming on faster now; he buried his face in her neck and bit gently as he finally got his release. They laid there quietly for a few seconds; him breathing heavily by her ear, her with tears running down her face from the unfamiliar pain she was feeling. He slid out of her, and off the bed to throw the condom in the wastebasket. He climbed back into the bed and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her head to his chest. He kissed the top of her head as they lay there silently wrapped in each others arms. He let go out her just for a second as he pulled the blanket up around her. He whispered, "I think I love you, Jenna." She looked up at him and smiled a little through the discomfort she was feeling right now. "I think I love you too, Cody." He smiled and kissed her gently on the lips.

_**Feeling alive all over again, As deep as the sky, under my skin Like being in love, she says For the first time Maybe I'm wrong, But I'm feeling right where I belong With you tonight Like being in love To feel for the first time**_


	38. First Cut is the Deepest

**Chapter 38**

A few weeks went by before Jenna heard from Cody again. He had called late one night, after Mandy had gone to bed. Randy was in St. Louis for a few days and the couple was sitting on the couch, catching up and flipping through the channels on the TV when the phone rang. Randy picked up the phone without thinking, or any protest from Jenna. She was slowly letting herself become comfortable with him; and the scary part to Jenna was that she didn't even realize it had been happening.

"Hello," Randy said gruffly into the phone.

Cody held back a sigh. Of course Randy would there with Jenna tonight; he was always with her whenever he got a chance to be in St. Louis for a couple of days. "Can I talk to Jenna, please," he said quietly as he fought like hell to resist the urge to jump through the phone and beat the hell out of Randy for even thinking of putting his hands on his beautiful Jenna. He hadn't spoken to her since Mandy's birthday party, except for the few seconds when he asked if Mandy was available to speak to him.

Cody heard Randy cover the receiver with his hand; he could hear him asking Jenna if she wanted to talk to him. After a few seconds of arguing back and forth, Jenna finally came on the phone.

"Hello?"

"Jenna it's Cody," he said lamely. Of course she knew it was him; what was it about her that turned him in a nervous high school kid trying to ask the pretty girl to the Homecoming dance? Hell, he used to **be** the nervous high school kid trying to score a date with the Homecoming Queen.

"Yeah, it's kind of late, Cody. Is everything all right," she asked quietly as she braced herself for some horrible news; like him and Layla had decided to get married or something along those lines.

"Well, no. I was calling to let Mandy know that she's a big sister."

Silence. Jenna could feel her heart literally breaking in two right now. "Oh," she whispered.

"Um, yeah, Layla had a little girl...seven pounds, five ounces, twenty inches long."

"What...what did you two name her," Jenna said quietly as she swallowed the lump in her throat and didn't bother to wipe away the tears that were streaming down her face. Randy watched his girlfriend break down and went to put a reassuring arm around her shoulders, but she shrugged him off and continued to listen to Cody on the phone.

"McKenzie Elise," he said softly. "I know, its late, but I wasn't sure when I would get another chance to call. Could you please sit down with Mandy and let her know tomorrow?" he asked nervously. I'll try to call later this week and set up a time for her to meet her little sister."

Jenna nodded, "Yeah, I'll do that," she whispered before she hung up the phone and tossed it on the floor. She took one look at the concerned look on Randy's face and then promptly burst into tears. Another sign from Cody that it was truly over between them.

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An hour later, Jenna was sitting on the edge of her bed, knees pulled up to her chest, still bawling her eyes out, while Randy sat next to her and felt completely helpless. How was he supposed to make her stop crying when she wouldn't listen to anything he had to say. He tried rubbing her back and whispering that it was all right, she just cried harder. He tried pulling her close to him and kissing the top of her head, she gently slapped him away. So there he sat; and watched his girlfriend of almost five months cry over her ex-husband.

She finally stopped sobbing long enough to lift her head and look at Randy. "I'm sorry..." she mumbled. "You just got back from the road and you're spending your time off watching me cry..." she whispered as she leaned her head on his broad shoulder and let him put his arm around her shaking shoulders.

"It's all right, Jenna. There's no where I'd rather be than right here with you..." he mumbled as he held her close. "Are you done crying?" Jenna nodded. "You knew this day was coming eventually. It's just another sign that he doesn't love you anymore and that he's moved on, Jenna." Randy reached out and lifted her chin with his fingers, making her look at him. "I don't like to see you cry, especially over someone as worthless as Cody. Let me make you happy..." he whispered as he leaned in and kissed her gently on the mouth, his fingers wandered to the back of her head, running through her soft hair, pulling her closer to him. "I can help you forget him for good. Just let me. Look how far we've come already, don't give up on being happy. I can help you get there," he whispered as he shifted his weight so she laid down on the bed. Very slowly and carefully he climbed on top of her and settled in between her legs. "Just let me," he whispered again as his fingers started unbuttoning her shirt and he slipped his large hands inside her shirt and smiled slightly when he felt how warm and soft her skin was.

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"Jenna," Randy whispered in her ear as he slid his boxer shorts off and hovered above her. He leaned down and kissed her sweet mouth. "Are you sure you want to do this?" he asked softly as he pushed some hair out of her eyes. She nodded and motioned over to the nightstand. He opened the top drawer and pulled out a condom. Slipping it on, he looked down at her; she never looked more beautiful than she did right now. His persistence had paid off, he had gotten what he wanted from her. With a few more gentle kisses on her neck, he pushed his way inside her. She let out a muffled cry as she felt him slide into her, stretching her to the limits. "Shit..." she mumbled as he started moving in and out. Jenna closed her eyes and tried to think of anything but Cody. And Layla. And their new perfect baby girl.

Randy brought her back to him with a gentle bite to her ear lobe. She opened her eyes and smiled as he smirked at her and quickened his pace. She could feel it coming; it felt so damn good. It had been so long since she had been touched and loved like this.

He must have turned the radio on when she was sobbing earlier, because her ears picked up the faint sound of an old song. She closed her eyes and tried to get lost in the moment while she listened to the lyrics.

_**I would have given you all of my heart But there's someone who's torn it apart And he's taken just all that I have But if you want I'll try to love again Baby, I'll try to love again, but I know...**_

Randy picked up his pace, alternating between attacking her breasts and her neck with his mouth. "Jenna..." he murmured in her ear. "Fuck...Jenna. You feel so damn good," he growled in her ear as he moved in and out of her even faster. Jenna closed her eyes and enjoyed the immense pleasure that Randy was giving her right now. She started whispering his name as she pulled him closer to her and brought his mouth down to hers.

_**The first cut is the deepest Baby I know The first cut is the deepest But when it comes to bein' lucky, he's cursed When it comes to lovin' me, he's worst...**_  
>.<p>

.

"Are you still thinking about him,"Randy asked as Jenna rested her head on his broad chest, closing her eyes at the sensation of his fingers running through her dark hair.

She shook her head, but inside she could still see Cody's face. She saw him on their first date, the homecoming dance, the prom, their first wedding night. She saw his proud face when the nurse handed him Amanda for the first time in the delivery room. She saw his smiling face when she promised to love him forever. She ached for him; but he had moved on and left her behind.

_**I still want you by my side just to help me dry the tears that I've cried And I'm sure gonna give you a try If you want I'll try to love again, (try) Baby, I'll try to love again, but I know...**_

"Tell me the truth, Jenna," he asked softly as he shifted so she was sitting up and looking at him. Jenna took a deep breath and decided to let herself go and try to love someone again. It was going to be hell trying to stop loving Cody, she had no idea how she was going to get over him. He had been part of her life for so long. Randy reached out and touched her cheek. Looking into his sincere blue eyes, Jenna knew what she had to do. She had to let Cody go and let herself learn to love someone else. No matter how much it hurt. This was for the best. Cody had moved on; it was time for her to do the same.


	39. Me and You

**Chapter 39**

"Mama? How much longer until we get to Nana and Gpa's house?" Mandy asked impatiently from the backseat.

"A little while longer," Jenna said quietly as she watched road ahead of them to let Randy know where to turn. Jenna, Mandy and Randy were on their way to Marietta for the weekend. Mandy was going to meet her new baby sister, McKenzie, for the first time tonight. To say that Jenna was nervous about being in Georgia again and seeing Cody was an understatement. Randy had some time off while he was out with an 'injury' and had insisted on coming with Jenna on this trek. He was nervous too; nervous that his girlfriend of eight months was still in love with her ex-husband. Cody had called faithfully once a week to speak to Mandy and had finally talked Jenna into bringing Mandy around so she could meet her sister.

When asked why Cody couldn't come to St. Louis so Mandy could see her sister, he said that Layla wasn't ready to take the baby out of state yet. That was kind of true, but Cody didn't want to hurt Jenna's feelings with the truth. Layla was being extremely difficult when the subject of Cody's older daughter coming to visit. She had finally gotten Cody to admit that he loved her and McKenzie; Jenna and Mandy were **not** going to ruin this for her.

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"Nana!" Mandy screeched as soon as she hopped out of the car; Jenna had to quickly move out of the way otherwise her daughter would have knocked her down in pursuit of her grandparents. Jenna smiled as she watched her mom and dad fight over who got to hug the little girl first.

"She must have missed them," Randy growled softly in her ear as he stood behind her.

"I know. I feel bad that she only gets to see them every so often. She used to love to come out here and play with my mom," Jenna said sadly as she looked around the spacious yard of her childhood home. She felt the sting of tears start to well up when she glanced at the front porch swing and thought about how Cody used to sit with her on that swing, holding her hand and quickly jumping away when her father would come outside to make sure that that Runnels boy wasn't molesting his princess. It was also the first place that Cody told her he loved her for the first time...

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_Flashback_

_**Ordinary no, I really don't think so Not a love this true Common destiny We were meant to be Me and you Like a perfect scene from a movie screen We're a dream come true Suited perfectly for eternity Me and you**  
><em>

"_Your dad makes me nervous," Cody said softly as he made sure that no part of him was touching any part of his girlfriend. Jim Andrews had been making periodic checks on the two teenagers since Cody drove Jenna home._

"_Don't worry. He's fine," she whispered back as she reached over and took his hand in hers. "I'm not scared, and neither should you."_

"_Yeah, but, Jen-" Jenna cut him off by surprise when she leaned in and kissed him gently on the mouth. Instinctively, his hand want to her soft brown hair and rolled a piece in between his fingers. He loved this girl; honestly and truly loved her. He wanted to shout from the rooftop, "I'm in love with the Homecoming Queen!" but restrained himself. He hadn't told her that he loved her yet. He had felt it for a while now, but wasn't sure if she felt the same way. After they had made love for he first time, he had said something along the lines of 'I think I love you', but he never actually came out and said for real. And he knew that's what she was waiting for; she wanted to hear him say it._

_**Every day, I need you even more And the night time too There's no way I could ever let you go Even if I wanted to Every day I live I try my best to give All I have to you I thank the stars above That we share this love me and you**  
><em>

"_Jenna, there's something I've been wanting to tell you..." he said slowly after he broke the kiss. He reached over for her hand, pulling it into his own. He took a deep breath and started to say it. He started to say the three little words that she wanted to hear from him._

"_What's the matter, Cody?" she whispered, her brown eyes were starting to fill with worry; was he breaking up with her?_

"_Nothing's wrong...I just..." he stuttered._

_**Every day, I need you even more And the night time too There's no way I could ever let you go Even if I wanted to Ordinary no, I really don't think so Just a precious few Ever make it last Get as lucky as Me and you Me and you**_

_Deciding to just be brave and blurt it out, "I love you," he said quickly as he looked down at his lap. A smile crept onto Jenna's face. She lifted his chin so he was looking at her._

"_What took you so long?" she whispered._

"_What..what do you mean?"_

"_I love you too..." she murmured as she snuggled up next to him, content that he had finally said it. _

_._

_._

_._

After catching up with Jim and Alice, they headed back into the car, much to Mandy's protests, and started the half an hour drive to Atlanta to see the new baby. Thankfully Mandy had fallen into a quick catnap as soon as they back out of the driveway, giving Randy an opportunity to make sure that Jenna was actually all right with seeing Cody.

Since they had finally made love two months ago, Jenna never brought up the subject of Cody unless someone else brought it up first. It still amazed Randy that eight months ago, this girl hated him; but now she was leaning hard on him. Randy wouldn't be surprised, or taken aback, if she started hinting around about an engagement ring soon. He would be more than happy to oblige. He wanted Jenna, he had wanted her since the first day he met her. Nothing was going to stand in his way of getting what he wanted. She had finally come around; not only was nothing going to stand in his way of having her, he wasn't going to let anything push her away from him. Especially not her ex-husband.

"You sure you're going to be all right doing this?" he growled quietly as he kept his eyes on the road. She nodded beside him. "You can always have your mom bring Mandy over there. You don't have to do this, I know it's going to be hard to see them."

"I appreciate your concern, Randy, but I think I'll be all right," she replied coldly.

"Shit, woman. I was just asking. No need to get all pissy at me," he said gruffly.

She reached for his hand and was silent for a few minutes. "I'm sorry," she whispered as she squeezed his hand. "I'm just...I don't even know."

He nodded and left it at that.

.

.

.

Cody was getting dressed when he heard McKenzie start to cry. Again. He waited a few seconds to see if Layla was going to get up and get her. A few seconds later and the baby was still crying. "Layla?" he called from the bedroom. Nothing. Holding back a groan, Cody pulled a t-shirt over his head and headed into the living room to pick up the baby. He passed through the kitchen and saw Layla sitting on a stool texting away on her phone. "Didn't you hear the baby cry?" he asked as he walked past her and into the living room.

McKenzie was in her playpen, screaming her little lungs out when Cody reached down and picked her up, holding her close to him. She stopped screaming and was letting just little whimpers out now they she saw that someone had finally come to get her. Cody checked her diaper and sighed in frustration.

Walking out into the kitchen, on his way upstairs to McKenzie's room, he asked Layla, "How long has she been wet?"

Layla shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know..." she said with her attention still focused on her cell phone. "Not long."

"Long enough. Her bottoms are soaked through," he mumbled as he headed upstairs. He set the baby down on the changing table and started to change her. He made silly faces at his daughter and cooed softly to her. I used to do this with Mandy four years ago, he thought to himself sadly.

Mandy and Jenna were on their way over today to meet McKenzie. He knew that Mandy was going to be over the moon to meet her new little sister; but how was Jenna going to react? More importantly, how did he **want** Jenna to react?


	40. Not Your Fault

**Chapter 40**

"Mandy...wake up, baby. We're here," Jenna said softly as she unbuckled her daughter and lifted her out of her booster seat. Mandy opened and closed her eyes a few times before she realized that the car had stopped moving and that they were at her daddy's house. She suddenly forgot all about being awoken from nap; she was home.

A big smile broke out on her little face as Jenna set her down and she took off towards the front porch, bounding up the steps and trying to reach the doorknob. After a few seconds of struggling, she got the screen door open and she sprinted into the kitchen, looking around for her dad. But instead of rushing into Cody's arms, she almost ran smack into to Layla, who immediately scowled at the little girl. "Great," Layla muttered under her breath. She had not been looking forward to this brat's visit at all. She couldn't seem to understand why Cody still thought it was important that he be in contact with his other daughter; he should be more concerned with taking care of her and McKenzie than worrying about not being able to see Mandy.

Jenna came in rushing after Mandy and pulled the little girl back towards her, who was looking at daddy's new friend with fearful eyes. She didn't like the way that daddy's new friend was looking at her right now; it scared her a little bit. Where was daddy? Mandy turned around and buried her face into her mother's knees. "Hello, Layla," Jenna said quietly, challenging Layla with her eyes to say something snarky to her, begging her to start an argument with her right away. Jenna wouldn't hesitate to slap Layla across the face without a second thought. It was Layla's fault that her marriage to Cody had fallen apart like it did.

"Jenna," she nodded and turned away from the two intruders. She walked over to the staircase and called for Cody. "He's upstairs changing McKenzie," she explained as she sat back down at the kitchen counter. She looked up when she saw someone else come into the house. She smirked when she saw it was Randy; her buddy.

A few minutes later of uncomfortable silence between Layla and Jenna, brought Cody down the stairs slowly, holding his new baby securely in his arms. He kissed the baby gently on the forehead and handed the baby to Layla, who looked down at the little girl disdainfully, as if it were a bother for her to hold her own daughter, before he got down on his knees and Mandy rushed into her father's arms. It felt so good to hold the little girl in his arms; he looked up and saw Jenna standing behind Mandy, still looking as beautiful as the day he met her. It wasn't the first time, and certainly not the last, that Cody would chastise himself for being such a fool when it came to ending his marriage with Jenna because he couldn't stop sleeping with Layla.

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.

"Daddy? Can I hold the baby?" Mandy whispered to Cody. The four adults, and the two children, were in the living room, trying to make small talk and ignore the fact that none of them wanted the other here right now. Cody nodded and made Mandy sit way back on the couch and showed her how to hold her little chubby arms out; very gently he laid McKenzie in her arms.

Jenna found herself smiling despite the company she was keeping right now, at how Mandy's face lit up when she held her new sister. "She's so cute," Mandy whispered as she gazed down at the baby. Jenna did have to admit that the baby was adorable; she looked a lot like Mandy when she was that age. McKenzie had dark brown hair like Mandy did, but she had Cody's sparkling blue eyes. Jenna could tell that Cody had dressed the baby, because there were a few mismatched buttons on her sleeper. She smiled a little at the memory of Cody never being able to get the buttons right on Mandy's sleepers either.

"You missed some buttons on her sleeper," she said quietly as she leaned over and fixed the buttons on the soft pink sleeper, smiling down at the little baby who had no idea that her existence had brought so much grief to the lives of so many people. It wasn't the baby's fault, though. It could never be her fault. It was Layla's fault for putting her hands on a married man. It was Cody's fault for giving into lust instead of coming home to his loving wife. It was Jenna's fault for not fully supporting her husband's dream like she had promised to do. But in no way shape or form, was it this innocent baby's fault.

Layla watched with jealous eyes as her boyfriend's ex-wife dared touch her and Cody's love child. Who did she think she was? She liked it better when Jenna and Cody hadn't been speaking; then she hadn't had to deal with her and her bitchy attitude. She caught Randy's eye and saw that, he too, wasn't pleased with the attention Jenna was paying to the baby. Layla found herself wondering how he had managed to work his way into Jenna's life, and bed, so quickly. What kind of lines did he use on her and how thick did he have to lay them on. It wasn't the first time that she also wondered what the hell these men saw in her. It was time for the 'lovely Jenna' to leave. Now. She was Randy's problem now, not Cody's.

"It's time for her bottle," Layla said suddenly as she got out of her chair and walked over to the couch, where Mandy was still looking down at amazement at her new sister. She gently took McKenzie out of Mandy's arms and walked out of the room, down the hall and into her bedroom where she shut the door.

Jenna noticed that Mandy's eyes were starting to fill with tears of an impending meltdown. "Mandy, darling, are you ready to go back to Nana's house?" she asked quietly as the little girl climbed into her mother's lap. She nodded her little head before she buried her face into Jenna's chest. Jenna looked over at Cody and saw her looking at him.

"I'm sorry," he said in a voice barely above a whisper; he wished that Randy wasn't with her right now; he desperately wanted to talk to Jenna alone, something that wasn't going to happen with her new boyfriend there.


	41. Patient

**Chapter 41**

The ride back to Jim and Alice's house was quiet except for the occasional sniffling and quiet sobbing from Mandy. Jenna sat in the backseat with her daughter and tried to console her and tried to reassure the little girl that her daddy still loved her, but there were just some changes happening in daddy's life.

Randy watched the two from the rear view mirror. It was weird to him that he was feeling so upset to see Mandy cry. He felt bad when he saw Jenna cry, any good man would feel bad when they saw their girl cry, but to see an innocent little girl cry over her father being a douche bag? He felt a strange pain in his chest when he saw the tears running down her chubby little face and he had a strong urge to find Cody Runnels later in a dark alley and beat the piss out of him.

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Alice was waiting for Jenna, Mandy and Randy to come back to the house. She had a funny feeling in the pit of her stomach when she thought about Jenna willingly taking Mandy over there to meet her new little sister. Ever since she had met Layla at Mandy's birthday party, she had a bad feeling about that woman. When her and Jim had returned from St. Louis that weekend, she had called Virgil and he confirmed her suspicions that Layla wasn't the right woman for her former son in law and that she was trying to trap him with a baby. As angry as Alice was with Cody right now for causing Jenna and Mandy so much emotional pain, she was more angry with this Layla woman for destroying her only daughter's marriage. Jenna and Cody's marriage might not have been perfect, but any fool could see how in love they were.

She peeked out the kitchen window when she heard a car pull into the driveway; they were back. She wiped her hands on a dish towel and started for the front porch, eager to hear how Mandy liked having a little sister. The small smile that was on Alice's face faded instantly when she saw her only granddaughter's cute little face streaked with tears.

"What happened?" she asked Randy softly as Jenna carried Mandy into the house.

"Cody is an asshole," he replied simply.

Alice sighed, "Please explain," she said softly as she sat down on the porch swing and motioned for Randy to join her.

Randy sat in silence for a few minutes, not sure how much of the story he should tell Jenna's mom without Jenna present. Deciding that Alice should know what happened, he started telling her what happened today. "We went over there, and Layla basically sneered and then ignored Mandy."

"I don't like her," Alice said simply, then nodded for Randy to continue talking.

"Then Cody let Mandy hold the baby for a few minutes, but then Layla freaked out over something and took the baby away from her."

"That poor little girl. She was so excited to be a big sister."

"I know, it's all we've heard about the last week," Randy admitted as he looked down at the ground.

Alice debated silently within herself back and forth about whether or not she should bring this up. Seeing that Jenna wasn't on her way back outside yet, she decided to just blurt it out. "Randy. What are your intentions with my daughter?" she said in a voice barely above a whisper.

Randy smirked. "I like her. A lot. I might even love her."

The smile returned to Alice's face. "And Amanda Sue?"

Randy took a deep breath. "If Jenna would let me, I'd love Mandy like my own."

"Would you ever hurt her like Cody has?"

"Never."

Alice nodded. "That's what I was hoping to hear," she said as she reached over and patted Randy on the hand.

Randy found himself smiling. He wasn't seeking Alice's approval or anything. He was just a patient man outlasted Jenna's reluctance.

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"Mommy? Why doesn't Layla like me? Why is she so mean to me? Does this mean daddy doesn't love me anymore?" Mandy sniffled as she sat on Jenna's lap on the sofa in the living room.

"Of course daddy loves you, pumpkin," Jenna whispered back.

"But...Layla was mean to me and he didn't make her stop," Mandy whimpered.

Jenna didn't know what to tell her; so she did the next best thing, she pulled the little girl close to her and hugged her. "Don't worry, Mandy. Everything will be all right." One day, she added silently. She was so angry with with her ex-husband right now, it wasn't even possible to put her anger into words. How dare Cody do this to their daughter? Couldn't he see that Layla was trying to destroy his relationship with his daughter? What did Jenna have to do to get through to him?

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"Layla. We need to talk," Cody said quietly from the entry way of their bedroom.

Layla looked up from her cell phone. "About what?" she said distractedly.

Cody sighed, remembering to keep his voice down. McKenzie was sleeping peacefully in her crib. "About what happened earlier today."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, Cody. Wait, is this about me taking the baby out of the living room? For cripes sake. It was time for McKenzie's bottle."

"Well...why couldn't Mandy feed her? You really hurt her little feelings when you did that. She doesn't think you like her."

Layla rolled her eyes. "Whatever."

Cody took a step towards the bed. "No, not whatever, Layla. If you want to be a part of my life, you need to learn to be nicer to Amanda. She's my daughter. I can understand if you can't get along with Jenna, whatever. But if you want to be with me, you have to learn to accept Mandy."

She let out a sarcastic laugh. "Ah no. When are you going to get it, Cody? Jenna and Mandy, they aren't part of your life anymore. Randy took your place. Jenna's sleeping with him and Mandy calls him daddy."

"That's not true," he whispered. "I'm still her daddy."

Layla got off the bed and walked up to Cody. Reaching out, she touched his cheek. "Yes, baby, it's true. Jenna's moved on and she's replaced you. Randy told me. He's going to wait a few more months and ask her to marry him. Then he'll talk her into fighting you for full custody of Mandy. Then you won't ever be able to see her again. You should just give up now. Me and McKenzie. We're your family now, baby. You don't need those two anymore. It's me, and you, and baby."


	42. New Beginnings Part I

**A/N: This is part one of the next chapter. Its short, but I wanted to split it up with the second half. Read, review and enjoy.**

**Chapter 42 Part I**

_**One Year Later**_

It's one year later, and the life that Jenna once knew has changed dramatically. She currently still lives in St. Louis will full custody of Mandy. Jenna and Randy are still dating exclusively, and Mandy has slipped once or twice and has called Randy daddy. Layla refuses to let Cody visit Mandy in St. Louis; the only contact he has with the little girl is his weekly phone call to her and the occasional visit to Jim and Alice's home for the holidays. Both Randy and Layla are pleased with this turn of events. Layla is pleased because without Mandy in the picture, Cody doesn't run the chance of seeing his beloved Jenna. Randy is pleased because without Cody in the picture, he has Jenna all to herself. The one person getting hurt in all of this drama is Amanda. She misses her father dearly and can't comprehend in her little five year old mind, why daddy doesn't come to see her anymore and why she can't play with her baby sister, McKenzie.

Randy has been hinting around the last few weeks about Jenna and Mandy moving into his house down the street from where they are currently working. The publication company that Jenna works for has recently decided to let some of their writers go, and unfortunately, Jenna was one of those writers. She could find another job in St. Louis, but she misses Georgia too much. One night after Mandy went to bed, she brought up the subject of her and Mandy's immediate future in Missouri.

"So..." Jenna said softly as she settled on the couch next to Randy, glass of wine in hand. "I was told a few days ago, that my contract is going to be ending this month."

Randy was silent for a few seconds. "What does that mean?" he asked carefully.

"It means I don't have a job anymore at the end of the month," she said as she rolled her pretty brown eyes at him.

"Well, I know that. I meant, what are you going to do now? Doesn't the company pay for your rent here?" he said with a touch of impatience at her choosing right now to be the difficult woman he used to know. He had broken her stubborn streak a long time ago, and wasn't excited to see it come back anytime soon.

"I think I'm going to move back home," she said softly and carefully.

"What do you mean, move back home? Move back in with your mom and dad?"

Jenna chuckled. "I'm thirty. There is no way in hell that I'm moving back in with my parents. I meant, I think it's time for me and Mandy to move back to Marietta so she can be closer to her grandparents."

"Ah, I see." A few seconds of silence went by before Randy spoke up again. "What does this mean with us?"

"Us?" Jenna repeated. "Huh. I guess, I don't know. What do you want to happen with us?"

"I want you," he murmured. "I still want you bad, Jenna. And you know that."

"Ok, besides the sex and the companionship, what else do you want to happen? I have to think about Amanda."

"Jenna...I've been wanting to tell you this for a long time," he said quietly as he got off the couch and went over to grab something out of his jacket, which he had thrown on the coat rack when he came in earlier tonight. Jenna watched with confused eye as to what her boyfriend thought he was doing right now.

Randy took whatever was in his jacket pocket and stuffed it into his jeans pocket, and walked back into the living room. He carefully took Jenna's glass of wine from her and set it on the coffee table before he got down on one knee. Jenna's heart rate started to pick up and she could feel herself starting to panic; what the hell did he think he was doing? She reminded herself to breathe as she watched with wide eyes as he took a little black box out of his jeans pocket and opened it.

"Holy shit," she muttered as she looked at the huge diamond ring that Randy was offering her.

"Jenna...I love you...and Mandy. Will you marry me," he whispered as he looked up at her and tried to hold back a smirk when he saw the shocked look on her face. He reached up and brushed her bangs out of her eyes. After a few seconds of tense silence, he asked her again. "Will you marry me? I want to take care of you and Mandy..."

Jenna wiped some tears that had escaped her eyes off of her cheeks and found herself nodding. "Yes, I'll marry you..." she whispered before she threw her arms around Randy's neck and held onto him for dear life. Life, until now, may have not lived up the fairytale ending that she had wished for with Cody, but this was a new beginning. For her. For Mandy. For them.


	43. New Beginnings Part II

**A/N: Here's the second part of chapter 42. Read, review and enjoy.**

**Chapter 42 Part 2**

Jenna laid her head on Randy's chest and let out a sigh of content. He tightened his hold on her and pulled her closer as he kissed the top of her head. "What a celebration..." he murmured as he was content to just hold her closely after the marathon love making session that had both just went though. "Jenna..." he trailed off.

"Huh?" she mumbled. She was caught up in the afterglow and her mind was refusing to form complete words right now.

"When do you want to get married?" he asked breaking her out of the serene moment she was having right now.

"I don't know..." she mumbled as she tried to snuggle closer to him, which was impossible; if she got any closer she would be on top of him.

"Let's do it next weekend," he said softly as he started to play with her long brown hair.

"Too soon," she said softly without thinking. He had just asked her to marry him a few hours ago; surely he couldn't really want to get married in six days?

"Not too soon. I've been waiting a long time for you," he growled softly as he shifted in the bed so she was forced to move her head from his chest. "Don't start being the difficult woman that you used to be, Jenna," he continued to growl at her as his steel cold blue eyes stared her down.

She was taken aback at the way he was talking to her right now. This wasn't like him at all. "Excuse me?" she whispered. "Let's get one thing straight, Randy. You can't talk to me like you are right now," she said as her voice trembled. It wasn't really the words that he was saying to her, it was the way that he was looking at her that made her nervous and scared.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, before he finally gave in and held out his arms for her. "I'm sorry," he mumbled softly as he started to nuzzle her neck. She nodded and left it at that. At least he had apologized.

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News of Randy and Jenna's engagement traveled quickly. In fact, it made it to Georgia shortly after nine o'clock the next morning. Randy had texted Ted to tell him the good news; Ted immediately called Cody.

"Yeah," Cody said distractedly as he watched 13 month old McKenzie toddle slowly around the living room. Layla had called him bawling the other night about how she desperately needed Cody to come home and give her a break from their daughter. A few minutes after Cody pulled up in the driveway, Layla sped off in Michelle's car; Cody was beginning to think that Layla and Michelle had planned this for some time now.

"Hey, it's Ted. Got some, um, interesting news for you," Ted said nervously. Cody was still his best friend, despite everything that was happening in their lives right now, and he wanted Cody to hear the news from a friend, not the dirt sheets or the locker room.

"What's that?" Cody asked as he got off the couch and gently took McKenzie's hand and led her away from tormenting Layla's annoying little yappy dog.

"Randy's getting married," Ted said with a slight twinge of disappointment in his voice.

"Oh. To who?" he asked distractedly. He hated it when Ted dragged stories out like this. He wished his buddy would just blurt out bad news quickly.

"Jenna."

Silence. Cody felt his mouth drop and his heart rate pick up. His beautiful Jenna was marrying that snake Randy? "How? When? Why?" Cody's words tumbled out of his mouth quickly.

"He just called me a few minutes ago. Apparently, he had asked her last night and she accepted. I'm sorry, man," Ted said softly.

"Uh. Ted, I gotta go..." Cody trailed off as memories of how he proposed to Jenna flashed through his mind quickly.

"Hey, I know its a shock; but you know you can call me if you need to?" Ted asked lamely. He just wanted his friend to let him know that he was there for him if necessary.

"Yeah, I'll, um, call you," he said quickly before he pushed the end button on his cell phone and stared into space for a few minutes.

"Daddy?" McKenzie asked softly as she toddled over to Cody and held out her little arms. "Up?"

He picked the little girl up and held her close. "Daddy sad?"

Cody nodded. "Yeah, daddy sad," he said softly as he kissed the top of his second daughter's head. What the hell possessed Jenna to say yes to Randy?


	44. Just Do It

**Chapter 43**

Cody waited until McKenzie was in bed before he sat down at the kitchen table and really thought about what his friend had told him earlier that day. Jenna was getting married? To Randy of all people? Running his hands over his face, he debated about what to do about with the situation. Did he just let her go, and let her live her life with Randy, no matter how much a mistake he thought she was making? Did he through a fit and drive to St. Louis in the middle of the night and beg her to reconsider? What about Mandy? Was Randy fit enough to be a father to that little girl? He felt his face flush with anger when he thought about Randy Orton being his daughter's legal stepfather. There had to be a way to stop this.

Without thinking about, Cody picked up his cell phone and dialed his dad's number. His dad had always given him the best advice, and he knew the American Dream would have something to say about this.

"Hello?" Virgil answered in his deep southern drawl.

"Dad, it's Cody," he said lamely, glancing at the kitchen clock, and for the first time realizing how late it was. Where was Layla? Her and Michelle had left early this morning and it was nearly nine o'clock now. Funny, he had hadn't noticed that she hadn't even called to check in on him and McKenzie at all today. He would have to deal with her later, right now, he had Jenna on the brain.

"Well, hello, son. Why are you calling so late?" Virgil asked with concern. He had been worried about his youngest lately; it seemed like he was spending more and more time at home taking care of that little girl than he was out on the road. He had heard a rumor that his son's career was slipping a little bit, and it was all that devil woman Layla's fault.

"Um, well, Ted called earlier with some news."

"I see, and what was that? Are they finally giving that young man the push he needs?"

"No, it was nothing about work. He, um, called because Randy is getting married."

Silence. "Oh. I didn't realize he was dating..." Virgil stopped what he was saying. He knew exactly why his son was calling now. Randy had finally proposed to the lovely Jenna. "I'm sorry, son. But somehow you must have known that eventually Jenna would find someone new."

"But, Randy..." Cody mumbled as he closed his eyes. This was hard. This hurt.

"Son, we've talked about this before; Randy did what any other red blooded man would do if they had a chance with a lovely woman like Jenna who wasn't married."

"He's not right for her,"Cody said quickly.

"And who is right for her, son?" Virgil said gently.

"I am..." Cody whispered after a few seconds of silence. "Dad, I fucked up. I fucked up real bad, and I feel horrible about it, but I can't let her marry him-"

"Cody, before you do something stupid, think about what you're saying. Don't you want Jenna to be happy?"

Cody bit his bottom lip and frowned. He dad was right; all he ever wanted to do was to make Jenna happy. "Yeah..."

"And what if being married to Randy is what is going to make her happy?" Virgil asked gently. He knew how much in love his son had been with Jenna, but Cody was right; he messed up and she moved on.

"But what if I can still make her happy?" Cody asked desperately.

Virgil sighed. "Son. I know it probably hurts to hear this. But you had your chance with the lovely Jenna. Leave her be. You let her be happy, and if marrying Randy makes her happy...well, son, there isn't much you can do about it."

Cody let his father's words sink in; he was right. He had his chance. And he blew it. Hell, he even had a second and third chance with Jenna and he blew those also.

.

.

.

"I can't do this anymore, Michelle," Layla whined to her best friend. "I can't keep staying home and taking care of that kid."

"But, Lay, she's not just any kid, she's **your **kid. With Cody. Isn't that what you always wanted," Michelle asked as she threw a lock of long blonde hair off of her shoulder and took another drink of her margarita.

"Yeah, but I thought he would be home more. It feels like I'm stuck with her all the time."

Michelle was silent for a few minutes. "So leave."

"I can't just take Kenzie and leave; Cody loves that little girl."

"Yeah, but it would make him realize how much he loves you. You've got to stand up for yourself, Lay. You've come a long way with him. I mean, shit, you finally got rid of that bitch Jenna and her brat. Now you have a beautiful kid with the man of your dreams. On second thought, maybe you shouldn't leave; maybe you should start hinting around that you want a ring."

Layla thought about it for a few seconds; Michelle was right. She had already moved into Cody's house, had it remodeled, had his baby. The next logical step would be for him to marry her. She was about to respond to Michelle when her phone started ringing. She sighed when she saw that it was Randy calling. "I have to take this. Be right back," she said to her friend as she slid off her bar stool and went outside to take the call.

.

.

.

"Hey, Randy," Layla said as she answered the phone.

"Hey. Got some news for you," he growled as he didn't even bother with pleasantries. He never really cared for Layla; they were just two people with something in common. They had both wanted what they couldn't have. Funny how things tend to change if you're persistent enough.

"What's that?"

"I'm marrying Jenna."

Layla was silent for a minute; she was in shock. This had to be the best news in the world.

"Are you going to say something?"

"Congratulations, Randy. Looks like things worked out well for you."

"That they did. I need you to do something for me, though."

Layla sighed; she had thought that they were even. "What's that?"

"I need you to pester Cody until he marries you."

"Why?" This was weird that Randy was bringing up the exact same thing that she had been talking to Michelle about just a few minutes ago.

"Because. I know that somewhere deep down inside that Jenna still has feelings for Cody. But the more things change with him, and the more that he moves on with his life, the more those feelings for him go away. She used to cry over him every night until he called and said that your baby was born. You marrying him should make those feelings go away completely. I'm going to marry her and I don't want Cody fucking things up."

"I like the way you think, Randy."

"So do I, Layla. Do what you need to do," he said before he hung up and walked back into the house. He silently walked into the bedroom and crawled into bed with Jenna. He smirked as he thought about how innocent she looked when the moonlight hit her sleeping face. "Soon, darling," he whispered as he laid down next to her and wrapped an arm around her waist.


	45. Leaving

**Chapter 44**

"Do you understand, Mandy?" Jenna asked gently. Her and Randy had just told Mandy that they were getting married and that they would be moving back to Marietta soon; Randy would finish the selling arrangements on his house and meet them there in a few weeks.

"I think so," she said slowly, her five year old mind still trying to process what her mom had just told her. "I don't get to go to kindergarten with Kayla anymore?"

"No, darling you won't. But I'm sure that once we get you enrolled in school in Marietta that you'll make a lot of new friends."

"Is Randy coming with us?" she asked with a big smile on her face. She really, really liked her friend Randy, and mama had just told her that they would be getting married. She didn't quite understand why they didn't live with daddy anymore, but Randy was a lot of fun too, and she liked it when he came over. He was a lot more fun than daddy. Ever since daddy started living with that new woman, who always frowned at her, he wasn't as much fun anymore.

"Eventually. Right now he needs to finish selling his house so we can buy a bigger house near Nana."

Mandy let out an excited squeal. "We're gonna live by Nana and Gpa?" she asked as she jumped up and down.

Jenna chuckled, "Yes, darling. We'll be close to Nana again."

"What about daddy?" she asked, her brown eyes full of questions. Jenna sighed; she knew eventually that she was going to have to answer this question.

"Daddy...Daddy lives with Layla now, and McKenzie."

"So, daddy won't live with us?"

"No."

Mandy was silent for a few seconds. "Does daddy still love me?" she asked softly as she crawled into Jenna's lap.

Jenna could only nod, and try to reassure her daughter that her father still loved her. He did, right?

.

.

.

Later that night, Randy was getting ready to head back on the road for a two week tour. This would be the longest the two had been apart since they started dating exclusively over a year ago. "Are you sure you're going to be all right?" he growled softly as he continued putting his clothes in his suitcase.

Jenna nodded. "I think so. We'll leave in the morning and drive straight through to Marietta. The movers will bring everything tomorrow afternoon."

"Are you staying with your mother?" he asked. He was a little worried that she would run into Cody while he was away. Randy had heard that Cody had requested some time off for personal reasons. By talking to Layla, he knew that she had talked, more like bullied, Cody into taking time off so she wouldn't have to take care of the baby by herself. He also knew that Layla was using this time to subtly hint to Cody that they should be married. Layla was persistent when it came to getting something she wanted.

"Randy, we've already been over this-" she started to say, frustrated that they had to rehash this conversation again. She was starting to get irritated with him.

"Tell me," he said quietly, as his blue eyes went to that steely hard look that had been appearing more often. He dropped what he had in his hand and crossed the room in a few long steps and wrapped his long arms around her slender waist. "Don't be difficult, Jen. I just want to know that everything is going to be fine. I'm not going to see you for two weeks, I want to make sure that you're going to be all right," he growled softly in her ear, trying like hell to keep his temper in check.

"Yes, I'm staying at my mother's for a few days," she whispered.

"All right," he said as he placed a soft kiss on her neck. "I just want to make sure that my girls are going to be all right," he said as he placed another kiss on her neck and tightened his arms around her waist even more. "It's me and you, baby..."

.

.

.

"Layla, where are you going?" Cody asked as he watched his girlfriend putting clothes into a suitcase. She had been mad at him all day, refusing to talk to him; while the silence was nice, there was something up with her that made him nervous.

"Out," she snapped as she went to her closet and started picking out shoes.

"Ok. Mind telling me where and when you'll be back?" he said calmly.

"With Michelle."

"And when are you going to be back?"

Layla let out a scream of frustration. "Does it matter, Cody? Does it really even matter? You hardly know I'm here anyways, so why should it even matter to you!" she shouted.

"What are you talking about, Layla? Of course it matters where you're going and when you'll be back. I took time off to spend with you and McKenzie-"

"You take care of her," she snapped back.

"What do you mean, Layla?" Cody was confused. Was...was she leaving him?

"I'm leaving," she said as she zipped up her suitcase, confirming his suspicions and worst fear. She was leaving him?

"What about McKenzie? You can't just walk out on her!" he shouted as he followed her out of their bedroom and down the hallway to their daughter's room.

"You take care of her. I'm done, Cody. I'm tired of staying home and taking care of her. This isn't how my life was supposed to turn out-"

"You should have fucking thought about that, Layla, when you fucking decided to get knocked up!" he shouted back at her.

"This is not just my fault, Cody! This is your fault-"

"The hell if this is just my fault, Layla! I was a happily married man-"

"The hell if you were happy-"

"Don't fucking interrupt me!" he shouted as he punched the wall near her head. Her mouth dropped open.

"Don't you even fucking think of laying a hand on me, Cody. You will regret it."

"I was a happily married man until you came along, trying to break me and Jenna-"

"Oh, here we go again! Jenna, Jenna, Jenna! Fuck, Cody. You obviously weren't happy with her. Because you kept coming back to me!"

Neither of them noticed that their shouting and screaming had woken up McKenzie. The little girl stood at the doorway of her bedroom, clutching her blanket and teddy bear tightly, terrified at what she was witnessing.

"Mama?" McKenzie said softly.

Layla turned to her daughter. "Mama's leaving, baby. Come give her a hug," she said softly after she shot Cody a glare for waking the kid up. After a second or two of hesitation, McKenzie walked over to her mother and hugged her knees. "Bye, baby. Daddy is going to take care of you. Mama will call soon," she whispered to her daughter before she let her go. Even though it pained Layla to see the tears starting to well up in her daughter's eyes, she had to go. She couldn't do this anymore. She wanted her life back; and that wasn't going to happen while she was stuck in Atlanta taking care of a kid and waiting for a man who wasn't going to marry her anytime soon.


	46. Reunited

**Chapter 45**

Cody picked up a crying McKenzie and followed Layla down the hall. "Layla. You can't just up and leave like this," he called after her. She stopped and turned around.

"Why not, Cody? It's obvious that you don't want me. You're still pining away after Jenna," she said his ex-wife's name with contempt. Jenna wasn't even here and she was ruining everything for her; just like she had when she decided to come back after leaving Cody so many years ago in the middle of the night.

"Because you have responsibilities here, Layla. You can't just walk out on our kid like this," Cody said as he set McKenzie down on the couch. "It isn't fair to her-"

"Fair? Fair?" Layla laughed. "You know what isn't fair, Cody? The fact that after you got me pregnant and let me move in here, is that you still won't marry me-"

"Damn it, Layla! We've been over this! I haven't even been divorced for a year and you want me to jump into something with-"

Layla screamed with frustration. "I'm done. This was such a mistake. I should have never listened to Randy-"

"What the hell does Randy have to do with this?" he asked suspiciously.

Her face paled; she had just blown her and Randy's cover. Shit. "Nothing," she said as she regained her composure and picked up her suitcase. "I'll send for the rest of my things later," she said abruptly as she opened the front door and walked out, slamming the door behind her; leaving Cody with a terrified and bawling McKenzie. He looked over at the little girl; what the hell does he do now? In the back of his mind, his suspicions were confirmed; Randy did have something to do with the downfall of his marriage to Jenna. The question was, what? And more importantly, how could Layla do something like this to him? He had believed her when she said that she could tell that Jenna wasn't making him happy, but someone like Layla could. He couldn't think about it now; he had to take care of his daughter.

.

.

.

"Jenna Kay...are you sure you want to jump into something like this?" Alice Andrews asked gently as her and Jenna sat at the kitchen table, sipping coffee. Her daughter and granddaughter had just arrived from St. Louis; they would be staying with her and Jim for a few days while Jenna looked for a short term rental. Apparently, Randy would be joining them in a few weeks. "You haven't dated Randy for very long..." she trailed off.

"Yes, I'm sure," Jenna said confidently as she pushed her hesitations to the back of her mind. Randy was good to her, and to Mandy, it just gave her a slightly uneasy feeling the way he had been acting towards her lately. She didn't particularly care for the way his blue eyes would glaze over with anger when certain topics came up.

"I'm just worried for you, princess. I don't want to see you, or Amanda, get hurt. You haven't been divorced from Cody for very long, and I'm worried that Amanda may get confused with all of the new changes happening in her life. It wasn't that long ago that you had to explain to her over and over again why her father doesn't live with you anymore, and now you'll have to explain why a new man is taking Cody's place."

"Mom, Mandy simply adores Randy. She had from the first day she met him; and at the time I couldn't for the life of me understand why, but she did."

"That's the thing, Jenna Kay, that's what I'm worried about; you despised him for so long, but then after Cody left, it seemed like he swooped in so quickly and offered to save you and Mandy. I'm just worried that you've agreed to marry him just so you would have someone to take care of you and—"

"Mom, that's not true. I'm thirty years old, I can take care of myself and my daughter just fine. I don't need someone to take care of us; I am perfectly capable of doing that on my own."

"Then, tell me princess, why are you agreeing to marry him?" Alice asked gently. Over the past year, she had gotten to known Randy a little bit, and he did seem like a nice young man. It just made her nervous that his intentions weren't exactly what her daughter thought they were. She just wanted to save Jenna Kay some heartache by thinking about what she was doing.

"I love him," she said simply. "And Mandy love him, and he loves both of us. I'm not doing this just to have someone take care of me and Mandy. I can do that on my own. I...I just want someone who is going to love me, and only have eyes for me," she said softly as she felt her eyes start to well up with tears when she thought about how Cody had promised to only love her, but ended up breaking that promise.

Alice patted her daughter's hand; she knew there were no words that she could say right now that were going to take away the sting of how Cody had hurt her. She knew that when Jenna wanted to talk more about it, or wanted some advice, she would come to her. She always did.

.

.

.

Cody watched McKenzie nap peacefully on his dad's sofa. It had been a long night and a long day so far for both of them. After trying to unsuccessfully get McKenzie to fall asleep again after Layla left last night, he had spent the night in her room, holding her close and trying to answer her questions. They weren't very hard questions, in fact, they were the same question over and over again. "Where mama?" Cody didn't have an answer.

"She just up and left, son?" Virgil asked softly from his recliner. His son and granddaughter had shown up on his front step at seven o'clock this morning; they both looked like they hadn't slept a wink.

"Yeah, I guess so. She said she couldn't do this anymore and just left."

"I told you, son. I don't want to be the one to tell you, but I told you, Codes. Something wasn't right about that woman."

"I know, dad. But now what do I do? I can't bring McKenzie on the road with me? I'm gonna lose my job," Cody complained. He knew that it wasn't right to be worried about his career right now; he should be worried about his daughter.

"You be a father," Virgil said simply. He was about to say more when the doorbell rang. He got off the chair and walked to the front door. "Well, I'll be damned," he said to himself when he saw who was standing on the front steps.

He opened the door and was practically knocked down by a little girl. "Papa!" she screeched as she hugged her grandpa. He hugged his granddaughter back for a moment and then looked up. "Jenna. So nice to see your pretty face. Come on in," he said as he picked up Mandy and closed the door behind his former daughter in law.

"Hi, Virgil. I hope it's all right that we're dropping by like this. Mandy wanted to see her Papa," she said softly as she followed Virgil into the house. She was about to explain to him what they were doing back in Georgia when someone came out into the kitchen.

"Hey, Jen..." Cody practically whispered. He couldn't believe it; she was here? He didn't have time to dwell on that thought because Mandy saw her daddy and ran straight into his arms.

"Daddy," she sobbed into his chest. The tears she cried weren't sad tears, they were happy tears; Mandy was so surprised to see her long lost daddy. She had thought they were only going to see Papa today. This was the best day ever! First she got to see Nana and Gpa, then Papa, and now daddy!

After a few minutes of hugging, Cody set Mandy down and she started talking nonstop to Papa about her care trip with mommy yesterday. "It took a really long time, and mommy wouldn't stop at McDonalds..." she kept talking as Virgil led the little girl out of the kitchen and into the living room so Jenna and Cody could have a minute to talk. Secretly, Virgil hoped that they would somehow be able to magically resolve all of their problems in a few minutes while sitting in his kitchen. He had always liked Jenna, and he knew he son still loved her too. Cody just had to learn how to stop being so stubborn when it came to his feelings.

"What, what are you doing in Georgia," he stuttered like an idiot. Once again he was transformed into the nervous high school kid trying to work up enough courage to ask the beauty queen out on a date.

"We're moving back."

He was about to ask another question, when his eye caught the huge diamond ring on her left hand. He swore that ache he was feeling in his chest right now was his heart actually breaking in two. Randy had won.


	47. Hey Jealousy

**A/N: here's a bonus chapter for today. Read, review and enjoy : )**

**Chapter 45**

"Moving back? Like...to Marietta, you and Mandy?" Cody stuttered again. He sighed, took a deep breath and reminded himself to keep breathing. Fifteen years, and she still makes him nervous and forget how to talk.

"Yeah, we're staying with my mom and dad for a few days," she responded softly, avoiding his gaze. She couldn't look at him, she just couldn't. Because then she would want to move closer to him, then she would want him to touch her, then she wouldn't want to let go of him. It was too late for this; Cody had made his decision. Now they would both have to just deal with it.

"Where's Randy?" he blurted out.

"On the road," she practically whispered as she looked up at him, her brown eyes dark with what looked like sadness? Was she sad, he wondered to himself. Maybe she was back in Marietta because they had broken up already. If so, then why is she still wearing that ring. "He'll be out for two weeks; by then I should have a rental for us that will work until we get...married, and put an offer in on a house." Jenna forced herself to look at him finally. "I'm sorry," she mumbled as she moved past him and went into the living room to see where Mandy had wandered off to.

Jenna walked into the living room, and stopped in the door frame and smiled. Mandy was sitting on the floor with McKenzie next to her and they were looking at a picture book together while Virgil sat in his recliner and looked on with a big smile of his own. He noticed Jenna standing in the doorway and motioned for her to come in and have a seat. Jenna sat down on the couch and watched as Mandy told her little sister about the pictures they were looking at. "This is a puppy. He's so cute! I don't have a puppy. Mommy says they are too messy. Do you have a puppy?" Mandy chattered away happily.

McKenzie nodded. "Puffy!" she squealed and clapped her hands. What was a Puffy, Jenna wondered to herself. She was just about to ask Virgil what that was when Cody spoke up; he must have followed her into the living room. "Fluffy is Layla's yappy little dog," he said quietly as he sat down on the other end of the couch and watched in amazement as his two girls sat so nicely together on the floor.

"Where is Layla?" Jenna blurted out. She felt her cheeks immediately turn red. She hadn't meant to blurt it out like that; Cody must think she's some jealous bitch.

"Gone," he whispered.

"Mama gone?" McKenzie spoke up from the floor. "Mama gone," she said sadly as she turned to Mandy.

Mandy looked at her little sister's sad face and immediately felt sad for her too. "Where did your mama go?" she asked.

"All gone," she said sadly.

Jenna looked over at Cody. She hesitated before asking, "Cody, did something happen?" she asked quietly.

Cody nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. Everything was happening so fast. Layla had fought with him, then left, then he was all alone with McKenzie, he was going to lose his job because he didn't know what to do with McKenzie, then Jenna and Mandy show up after him not seeing them for a year. He was so lost in feeling sorry for himself that he almost didn't hear Jenna. "Do you want...to talk about it?" she asked.

He nodded slowly after a second and looked over at his father, who nodded and motioned for the two to leave the room. "I'll keep an eye on my little spark plugs," he said with a smile.

.

.

.

_**And you know it might not be that bad You were the best I'd ever had If I hadn't blown the whole thing years ago I might not be alone**_

They sat down on the front steps. Jenna waited for a few minutes to see if Cody was going to start talking or if she had to drag the story out of him. Seeing that he wasn't going to say anything unless she prodded, she sighed. "What happened?" she practically whispered.

"She left. Said she couldn't do this anymore," he mumbled as he ran his hands over his head and stared straight ahead. This was unreal. This really couldn't be happening.

"Did she say why, or did she..." Jenna trailed off, not sure how much of the story she actually wanted to know. She was, after all, an engaged woman. Engaged to a man who had trusted her to come back to Georgia without him.

"She said she didn't want to do this anymore. She wanted me to marry her and to stay home with her. I can't do that; wrestling..." he trailed off, slightly embarrassed that he was actually having this conversation with his ex-wife right now.

"Is your life," she finished for him.

_**Tomorrow we can drive around this town And let the cops chase us around The past is gone but something might be found To take it's place, hey jealousy Hey jealousy, hey jealousy, hey jealousy**_

"Yeah. I love being a dad too, but, I can't do it alone. I can't believe she would just up and leave like this. She told me that McKenzie was my problem now. What kind of mother does that to her baby?" he asked, his voice starting to fill with anger.

"A bad one," Jenna said simply.

"I'm sorry, Jen. I shouldn't...I shouldn't be bothering you with this crap," he mumbled as he started to stand up, but stopped when he realized that Jenna had placed her hand on his knee.

"Stay," she whispered. He sat back down, wondering what she had on her mind.

They sat in silence for a few minutes before he finally said something. Swallowing his fear, "Can I see you tonight?" he whispered.

Jenna was taken aback by what he was asking her. The first thought that sprung to her mind ended up coming out of her mouth, "I'm engaged to someone else, Cody. We can't just hang out and act like nothing happened between us..."

"I know...I'm sorry, Jen. I really am. I...I... when you said that you still loved me, and I didn't say it back, I'm sorry," he mumbled. "You have to know that, deep down somewhere, I never stopped and that I'm really sorry...for everything."

Jenna nodded and wiped the tears away from her eyes before they could fall. How do these things keep happening to her? She looked down at the ring on her left hand; she had made Randy a promise and she couldn't break that. Could she?

.

.

Virgil had just gotten both girls settled down on the couch with a movie. He was beginning to wonder where his son had gone. He walked to the front door and looked out the window, a smile starting to form on his face as he saw Cody and Jenna sitting together on the front steps. Not yelling, not screaming, not rolling their eyes at each other. Just together. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer that these two kids would find their way back to each other one day.


	48. So soon

**Chapter 48**

"So…what do you say, Jen? Can I see you tonight?" Cody asked again after that sat together on the front steps of his father's house in silence for ten minutes or so. He resisted the deep down urge he had right now to brush her hair out of her eyes and pull her closer to him. He craved her touch.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Cody," she finally said with a sigh. She had hesitated too long for Cody to know that she **did** want to see him tonight; she was probably just worried about what Randy would say.

"Are you sure? I promise, I don't have anything on my mind except hanging out with you," he said softly as he reached over and touched her knee. She tried like hell to ignore the electricity she was feeling right now when she felt his hand touch her bare knee. This couldn't be happening; this wasn't right.

"I should get going…." she mumbled as she stood up and walked back into the house. Virgil was sitting at the kitchen table when she walked into the room.

"Where's Amanda?" she asked softly as she looked around the room.

"Settled up on the couch with her little sister," he said distractedly as he read the newspaper. "Jenna," he called to her before she could make it into the living room. She stopped and came back into the kitchen. He motioned for her to take a seat at the table with him. She sat down and waited for her ex-father in law to say something.

"Now, I don't want you to think that I'm undermining you or anything like that. But little Amanda Sue asked if she could spend the night here at her Papa's house with McKenzie. And before I knew it, the words left my mouth and I told that little darling, of course she could stay here tonight. " He stopped talking and waited for a reaction of anger from her. Seeing none, he continued talking. "I hope you don't mind; I never get to see that little one nearly enough and she's having such a good time with her little sister—"

"Of course it's all right. I'll have to go to my mother's house and get some clothes for her. Is….is Cody staying here tonight also? I'm sure Mandy would love to spend some time with her father."

Virgil shook his head. "That poor boy has had to take care of that little girl nonstop for a few weeks now; he needs a break, so I'm sending him home and keeping McKenzie here."

"I see," Jenna said quietly. She wondered if Cody had known that his father was keeping both of the girls tonight already when he had asked if he could see her tonight. Just then Cody came in from outside; he chastised himself when he felt a small blush creeping up on his face when his eyes met Jenna's. 'Damn it, he thought to himself. I gotta snap out of this, I lost the beauty queen and I'm out of second, third and fourth chances.'

"Son, I'm gonna keep both the girls here tonight. So you go on home and do whatever you need to do. You can come and pick McKenzie up tomorrow afternoon," Virgil said with authority. "Might I suggest though, that you track down that Layla woman and find out if she's giving you full custody or not?"

"Oh. All right, I guess," Cody said softly; he didn't want to think about Layla right now. He wanted to think about Jenna. And her lips. "Thanks, dad. Um…I think I'm going to say goodbye to the girls and head home for some sleep…." he trailed off as he went into the living room.

Jenna was about to follow and tell Mandy she would be right back, when Virgil stopped her. "All right, Jenna. I saw you two outside. I just want to let you know, that my boy has suffered a lot this past year. I know, deep in my heart, that that boy still loves you."

Jenna's mouth dropped. What on earth was possessing him to say this to her right now? She was an engaged woman! "I heard that you and that Randal Orton are getting married. That's wonderful; but I also talked to your mama the other day, and I agree with her. Take it slow," he finished quietly.

She nodded and then went into the living room. When did he talk to her mother? And why were they both thinking that her and Randy should take it slow? And what did Virgil mean when he said that he saw her and Cody outside. Confusion and a feeling of uneasiness was settling into Jenna as she told Mandy she would be right back. Before she walked out of the room, she caught Cody's eye; she swore she saw him: the boy she had fallen in love with so many years ago, not the selfish man who had hurt her so badly and had broken her heart, but the nervous boy who used to walk her to English class. But before she could fully let that sink in, her cell phone started ringing. It was Randy. Her fiancé.

.

.

"Hey, baby," Randy growled in her ear as Jenna backed her car out of Virgil's driveway. "Where are you? Did you make it to your mother's house?"

"I'm just leaving Virgil's house," she said softly.

"What were you doing there," he asked pointedly.

"Mandy wanted to see her Papa," she said back. Why was he acting like this again? "Virgil offered to keep overnight."

"I see. So what are you doing tonight then?"

"I….I don't know," she trailed off as she thought about Cody's offer to 'just hang out' tonight. "I might just hang around my mom and dad's house."

A few seconds of silence went by. Randy wanted to ask her if she had seen Cody, but resisted. He didn't want to upset her. "I miss you, baby," he growled softly.

"I miss you too," she said automatically. They had only been apart for a few days, but he was acting like it's been weeks already.

"Have you started thinking about where you want to get married?" he asked as he broke her out of her thoughts. She had just driven past the old railroad tracks that she and Cody used to park by during their Friday night dates.

"What?" she asked.

He let out a sigh of frustration. "I asked you if you had thought about when you wanted to get married. I'll be back in two weeks; would that give you enough time to plan something?"

"Seems a little soon," she said softly.

"Not to me it doesn't. I'm aching for you to be Mrs. Orton more than you can imagine, baby," he said softly.

"Me, too," she finally said after a longer than necessary silence. She was, right?


	49. Come to my window

**Chapter 49**

Cody paced around his living room a few times before he finally worked up enough courage to call her. He listened to the phone ring three or four times before she finally picked up.

"Yeah…" she said abruptly; Cody could hear the sound of a radio playing loudly in the background.

"Where are you," he asked without saying hello.

Layla rolled her eyes; of course he would be calling now. He had been alone with McKenzie for almost twenty fours now; not something he was really used to. She, however, was on her way back home to reclaim the life she had given up when she had gotten pregnant. "Miami."

"What the hell are you doing there, Layla? We need to talk. You just walked out on your kid last night—"

"What's the matter, Cody? Don't like playing 'daddy'? Oh that's right; you only like playing the daddy role to that precious brat that you and Jenna created."

"Are you serious? Layla, what the fuck is wrong with you? Why do you hate Mandy so much? And how can you even think about leaving McKenzie the way that you did? What kind of mother are you?" He couldn't believe he was actually having this conversation with her right now.

"Why, Cody? Why do I dislike Mandy so much? You really want to know? I'll tell you. Because she is a constant reminder of your precious Jenna," she said Cody's ex-wife's name with contempt. "Jenna ruined everything!" she shouted in frustration. "I thought things would change between us when we had a baby of our own—"

"What the fuck are you talking about? I was **married **to Jenna when I met you—"

"Yeah, but she wasn't around was she, Cody? She was selfish and had taken off in the middle of the night while you were at work; then one day decided it was convenient enough for her to come back and try to hook back up with you like nothing happened! Never mind the fact that you had finally moved on. With me!"

Cody took a deep breath; he did not want to have this conversation with Layla. Again. They had had this conversation several times since Jenna came back to him a few years ago. It was always the same thing over and over again with her. "I don't want to talk about this right now, Layla. We have other problems we need to worry about right now."

"Like what," she spat at him. She was in no way, shape or form ready to come back home to him yet.

"Are you fucking serious? About McKenzie! Our kid! You fucking abandoned her last night."

"What do you want me to do Cody? Huh? What do you want me to do?"

"Are you coming back for her?"

"Why? Is being an actual father to McKenzie interfering in with the time you spend pining over Jenna?"

Silence. "What the fuck are you talking about?"

Layla let out a dry laugh. "You think I'm stupid, Cody? Do you really think I am that stupid? I hear you. I hear you mumble in your sleep about her. I know you dream about her every night while you're lying in bed with me. I see the way your face changes when her name comes up. You actually look happy when you hear her name. Why can't you feel for me what you feel for her? Do you know why, when I moved in, I insisted on remodeling that house, all of the rooms you would let me?" She waited briefly for an answer; hearing none she continued. "Because it hurt me too badly to see the way you would mope around that house that is filled with her memory, Cody. I tried; I really did try to make you forget about her. But nothing I did, or could ever do, is going to make me live up to the standards that Jenna set. It's over, Cody."

Cody wasn't expecting to hear a confession like this out of Layla. "What about McKenzie? Are you giving up parental rights?" he asked as he bit his bottom lip. Part of him didn't want Layla to just walk away from their daughter; a girl needed her mother.

"I don't know what I want to do yet. We'll talk soon." And with those final words, she hung up on him.

.

.

Jenna looked around her childhood bedroom; not much had changed. It had been so long since she had actually been 'home'. The walls were still painted a faded pink; the curtains were still white and pressed. No doubt her mother still took them down once a week to wash and iron them, just to hang them back up in an empty room. Her full size bed was still in the same spot it had been when she was in high school; still made up with a fluffy white comforter. She smiled when a random memory popped into her mind about the first time Cody kissed her on this bed. The smile faded when the memory turned to the first time they had made love. Pushing that memory of out of her mind, she walked away from the bed and walked over to her dresser.

Her mother hadn't changed anything in this room; it was like Jenna had never left one night and never looked back. She picked up her silver hairbrush and gently touched the soft bristles. She set the brush down and looked up at the mirror. The lovesick teenager with long hair and pink lipstick was gone; her reflection was replaced with a woman. Her hair was darker than it was in high school, shorter, a more mature look. Her dark brown eyes weren't outlined with the black eyeliner of her teenage years; it was replaced with a more subtle gray liner. She could tell that she was growing older, time was starting to slowly slip away from her; the bright, innocent look in her eyes that used to be there was replaced with a worldlier, more mature look; she had been through so much since she had left this house with Cody so long ago. Sighing, Jenna broke her attention away from the mirror; her eyes stopped on an old piece of notebook paper that was taped to the mirror. It looked like it had been folded and unfolded many times, read over and over again. She reached out to touch it, and then stopped. She didn't have to open it. She knew what it said. She could never forget those words.

"_Everyone says you only fall in love once but that's not true every time I hear your voice I fall in love all over again."_

Jenna wiped the tears that she hadn't even realized that had formed in her eyes and had slid down her cheeks. What was she doing? Why was she tormenting herself like this? They were divorced; the fairytale romance that she was promised, and the happily ever after, never came true for her. He couldn't have loved her as much as he had claimed he always had. Because if he did, they would still be married, living together, with a few more perfect children.

She walked over to the bed and lay down; she was about to continue her one person pity party when she heard something gently hit her bedroom window. What was that, she wondered as she sat up and looked around. It must have just been the wind, she thought to herself when she didn't hear the noise again right away. But then she heard it again. Tink. Getting off the bed and walking over to the window, she just happened to glance at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was just a little after 10:00, what on earth was going on?

Cody looked up at Jenna's old bedroom window. He had been driving past, trying to clear his mind when he noticed that her light was on. Against his better judgment, he parked his car and walked in the dark across the Andrews' lawn and stood underneath her window. He could see her in the room, wandering around. She looked so sad; he felt a dull ache in his chest when he saw what looked like her wiping tears from her eyes. Without thinking, he found a small rock and threw it at her window. It made a louder noise than he had expected; he looked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he didn't see Jim Andrews charging out the back door after him.

_**Come to my window Crawl inside, wait by the light of the moon Come to my window I'll be home soon**_

He found another small rock and threw it at the window and waited. After a few seconds, she appeared in the window. Struggling to open the frame, she finally got it open and looked down. He could see her jaw drop when she saw him standing there, in the dark, desperate to see her again. She immediately felt like she was sixteen years old again.

"What are you doing here?" she whispered loudly.

"I need to see you…."

"Why didn't you just call?"

Cody tilted his head. "Climb down."

"Are you fucking crazy? I'll break my neck!"

"Jenna! You're thirty not ninety, you won't break anything, just do…..do it like you used to," he said as he motioned for her to climb out on to the windowsill and to grab a hold of the closest tree branch.

_**I would dial the numbers Just to listen to your breath I would stand inside my hell And hold the hand of death You don't know how far I'd go To ease this precious ache You don't know how much I'd give Or how much I can take Just to reach you Just to reach you Just to reach you**_

Jenna hesitated for a few minutes; Cody was sure that she was just going to tell him to go away and close the window, when she tentatively climbed out and grabbed on to the tree branch. Cody's heart started racing as he jogged over to the base of the tree so he could help her down. Years ago, they had secretly, or not so secretly depending on how you looked at it, nailed small boards to the tree to serve as steps for when she climbed out of her window when he would come to get her in the middle of the night.

_**Keeping my eyes open I cannot afford to sleep Giving away promises I know that I can't keep Nothing fills the blackness That has seeped into my chest I need you in my blood I am forsaking all the rest Just to reach you Just to reach you Oh to reach you**_

Very slowly, and carefully, Jenna climbed out of her bedroom window and on to the tree. It took a few seconds for her to remember how she used to do this before she got the hang of it again. Within a few minutes, she was down on the ground. Cody held out his hand to help her with the last step.

There they stood, in the dark with the moon being the only light for them to see by. "Hey," she whispered, unsure what she was supposed to do now. Climbing out her old childhood bedroom window was the most impulsive, and quite possibly dangerous, thing she had done in a long time. What was it about being back in Marietta that making her act this way? She silently chastised herself for acting like a teenager instead of the grown woman that she was.

"Hey," he whispered back and without thinking, he reached out and brushed her hair out of her eyes. "Let's go," he said softly as he grabbed her hand and they started running in the dark. To where? It didn't matter right now; as long as they were together.

_**I don't care what they think I don't care what they say What do they know about this love anyway**_


	50. Don't Call Me Princess

Randy was starting to get worried and frustrated; he had been trying to call Jenna for over an hour now and she wasn't picking up. Where the hell was she? She had mentioned earlier today that Mandy was staying overnight at Virgil's house. That was fine, but where the hell was she tonight? He tried calling her one more time and growled in frustration when her voicemail picked up again.

"_Hi, you've reach Jenna Runnels. Sorry I can't take your call right now. Please leave a message, thanks!" _her recorded voice said. He hit the end button and fumed briefly about how she was still using Cody's last name. Patience, he reminded himself, soon her voicemail would say Jenna Orton. He threw his phone back into his travel bag and zipped it up. He paced around the locker room for a minute, debating on whether or not try to calling her again, when he finally said fuck it, and picked up his bag and started to head out of the arena. He would try calling her later, and she had better answer this time.

.

.

"That girl and her phone," Jim Andrews mumbled from his recliner in the living room. "Isn't she going to answer it? It's been ringing and beeping for at least an hour now," he said to Alice, who was perfectly content on her recliner, knitting.

"Maybe she fell asleep," she suggested.

"Maybe she climbed out her bedroom window and forgot to take it with her," he replied with a chuckle, remembering some of the 'trouble' they had with Jenna when she was a teenager. She was good girl, a perfect daughter even, for almost all of her childhood and teenage years. It was when that Runnels boy would come along that she would seem to act out. It was because of Cody that they had lost their only daughter to a middle of the night wedding ceremony and then didn't hear from her for almost five years. But then again, it was Cody who brought her back home to Georgia.

"Jim, she is thirty years old. I highly doubt that she climbed out her bedroom window and went out for the night," she said softly. "She either fell asleep without turning the phone off or she's too wrapped up in something on her laptop to be bothered to answer the phone."

"You're probably right, dear."

.

.

Around midnight, Jim decided to go to bed. "I'm going to go upstairs and say good night to Jenna, and then I'll be in, dear," she said as she started up the stairs. Jenna's phone had been ringing again nonstop for the past half hour.

She knocked softly on Jenna's bedroom door before she opened it slowly. She was mildly shocked to not see her daughter sleeping in the bed or hard at work on her laptop. Where was she? She looked down the hallway and saw that the bathroom was dark, so she wasn't in there. Walking slowly into the bedroom, she picked up Jenna's phone. 'My goodness,' she said to herself when she saw that her daughter had over fifteen missed calls; mostly from her fiancé Randy.

Jim was right. Their Jenna had climbed out her bedroom window; she couldn't remember seeing Jenna come down the stairs and go out the front door. She looked around the desk for a clue of where Jenna might have gone, and then she saw it. The old faded and folded many times love note that Cody had written her years and years ago. Alice tried to fight the smile that was forming on her face. She had done it again; she had climbed out the window like Juliet going to her Romeo.

'Good for her,' she thought to herself. 'Let it happen, princess….'

.

.

"Where are we going, Cody?" Jenna asked him as they finally made it to where he had parked his car. He opened the door for her and she climbed in, slightly turned on and feeling frisky because of all of this sneaking around. He could have just come to the front door; but he decided to pull a trick out of his teenage days and throw rocks at her window. Jenna doubted that Randy would have ever done that for her. He was more the type to knock loudly on the door until she gave in and let him inside.

"I don't know…for a drive?" he said softly as he shut the driver side door behind him and started driving. They drove in silence for a few minutes; both of them lost in their own thoughts. The silence was beginning to become uncomfortable before Cody finally cleared his throat and started talking. "Layla's gone."

"I know, you told me earlier today," she said softly as she looked out the window. Why was he telling her this again?

"No, I mean, she's really gone and she's not coming back. I talked to her when I got home this afternoon and she said she's done, that she's never coming back."

Jenna turned to Cody. "What do you mean she's not coming back? What about her daughter?"

"She said McKenzie was my problem now. I'm beginning to think that she didn't ever want to be a mother in the first place. She wasn't any good at it; not like you are…." he trailed off as he dared to turn his head a little bit and look at her. She was biting her bottom lip, not saying anything. "You were a perfect mother even before Mandy was born. I've never seen a woman so in love with carrying and raising a child," he said softly as he thought about moving his right hand closer to her left one. "When Mandy was born, that was one of the happiest days of my life. I didn't think it was possible to love you more than I already did, Jen."

Jenna shook her head and wiped a stray tear from her cheek. "I don't believe you. If you had loved me as much—"

"Jen, I did love you. I loved you since junior high. We've been through so much together."

"Layla," was all she said. Jenna was still torn up and hurt beyond repair about what Cody had done with another woman after he repeatedly promised Jenna that it was over.

"I'm sorry. That's all I can really say. It was a really low point in my life, and I….I don't know, I guess. She was there with open arms and a listening ear when you weren't."

"Cody, since I came back I have supported you in everything. I know you had this dream of me being able to come on the road with you every day, but you and I both know that it's just not possible when you have children. That's no life for them—"

"What's 'no life for them' is not being able to see their father because he is on the road all the time," he said stubbornly, still feeling a little bit bitter over how Virgil had been on the road most of his childhood.

"There is no happy medium here, Cody."

"Do you think you're going to find that happy medium with Randy when you two start having kids? He's in this business for the long haul, just like I am, Jenna."

"Please, stop," she warned softly as he pulled over by the lake.

"Jenna, you're make a mistake by marrying him."

"No, Cody I'm not. He loves me and he's so good to Mandy—"

"But do you love him?"

"Of course I do!" she said louder than she meant to. It almost sounded like she was trying to convince herself.

"Jenna, I know he was there when everything was falling apart, like I should have been, but you don't need to marry him—"

"I love him, Cody," she snapped back at him.

After Jenna's outburst, they sat in silence again, lost in their own thoughts. It was close to midnight now according the clock on the car radio. "I'm sorry…." he finally said. "I shouldn't be talking shit like that, Jenna. I'm just worried about you…"

"Why, Cody? Why are you worried now? You didn't seem too worried about over a year ago when you divorced me."

"You wanted that divorce as much as I did, Jenna—"

"No I didn't Cody! I loved you, I always loved you, I still fucking love you—"

"If you still love me, then why are you marrying him, princess? Is it to get back at me?"

"Don't you call me princess, Cody—"

"I'll call you whatever I want to now!" he shouted back at her. "You said you still love me, but you're going to marry him—"

Jenna let out a scream of frustration and anger. "I'm marrying him because I want to—"

"I don't think you do, Jen. I think you're just doing this to get back at me!"

Her mouth dropped in shock. Did he really just shout at her like this? Without thinking about the possible consequences, she leaned over the center counsel, took his face in her hands and pressed her mouth against his. His hands immediately went to the back of her head to pull her closer as his mouth explored hers. She broke the kiss for air and was about to go back for more, but instead his mouth went to her ear, "Jenna…I've missed you so much…." he whispered. "It looks like you missed me too….please don't marry him….."


	51. Patient Man, Jealous Man

**Chapter 51**

Cody broke the kiss and tried to catch his breath before Jenna pulled him back closer to her. While kissing her sweet mouth, he reached over and fumbled with the lever that would recline her seat. After the seat went back, he pushed up the center arm rest and crawled over it. She pulled away from him. "We shouldn't do this," she whispered before she pulled him on top of her, gripping the back of his shirt with her hands, holding on for dear life.

_**We're both looking for something We've been afraid to find It's easier to be broken It's easier to hide**_

Cody's hands started to wander from her hair, down her neck, and slowly moved down to her chest, lightly touching her full breasts and sighing as he felt the familiar soft flesh. His hands wandered back up to her face; holding her chin in his hands, he broke the kiss. "I know we shouldn't do this….but it feels so right. Isn't that what everyone always tells us…" he trailed off with a whisper.

"Do what feels right," she finished for him.

_**Looking at you, holding my breath, For once in my life, I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, letting you inside.**_

He nodded and pulled away from her a little bit, his legs and knees still straddling her hips in the passenger seat. "Do you want to come home?" he murmured as he looked down at her pretty face illuminated in the moonlight. It didn't seem strange to either of them that just ten minutes ago they had been screaming at each other, and now they were in the middle of a heavy make-out session that was about to go further than it should.

Jenna bit her bottom lip and looked up at Cody's face. Even in the dark, she could see that his normally sparkling blue eyes were clouded over with anxiety. And lust. She nodded and pulled him in for one more kiss to tide her over until they made it back to his house.

.

.

_**Feeling alive all over again, As deep as the sky, under my skin Like being in love, she says For the first time**_

They barely made it in the door before Jenna attacked Cody by hopping up and wrapping her long legs around his waist and kissing him passionately on the mouth, her fingers running threw his dark hair, trying to pull him closer to her than he already was. Very slowly, he started moving them towards the bedroom. She saw where she was leading them and stopped him. "Not in there," she whispered, her dark brown eyes silently begging him not to make love to her in the same bed that he had shared with Layla.

He nodded and started moving them towards the living room. He gently laid her down on the floor and hovered over her for a few seconds before his soft lips met her neck and his hands started to wander towards the buttons on her shirt. Slowly, he undid the buttons one by one, his mouth exploring the newly exposed flesh as his lips traveled down her chest and to her stomach.

_**Maybe I'm wrong, But I'm feeling right where I belong With you tonight Like being in love To feel for the first time**_

Jenna sat up briefly and discarded her shirt and lifted Cody's shirt up and over his head and pulled him back on top of her. Her warm, soft skin against his made him let out a soft groan as he moved the straps of her bra off of her shoulders with his teeth while his hands wandered down to the button of her jeans and slowly undid the button and then slid down the zipper. Moving his hands down to her hips, he lifted her up just enough to slide her jeans down and off of her legs. With fumbling fingers, Jenna tried to undo his belt and button. After a few seconds of frustration, he helped her fingers.

_**The world that I see inside you Waiting to come to life Waking me up to dreaming Reality in your eyes**_

"Jen, are you sure you want to do this?" he whispered in her ear while he hovered over her. Her body twitched in anticipation of having him so close to hers right now. She nodded and pulled his face closer to hers. Wrapping her legs around his waist, she waited; she waited to feel his love…..

.

.

She dragged her fingers down his back, causing him to let out a moan that was a mix of pleasure and pain. With a hard kiss on her mouth, he finished; after few seconds, she could feel his seed splashing against her walls and slowly dripping. Breathing heavily, he kissed her sternum and up to her neck, placing a soft kiss on her chin, his lips finally met hers. "I love you…" he murmured so softly in her ear, she wasn't sure if she really had heard him.

"I love you too…" she mumbled back. He pulled away from her and looked down at her. She was so beautiful—with a soft smile on her kiss swollen lips, her dark eyes clouded over with lust, her hair mussed up. He smiled back at her and rested his head on her sternum.

_**Looking at you, Holding my breath, For once in my life I'm scared to death, I'm taking a chance, Letting you inside.**_

_**I'm feeling alive all over again As deep as the sky that's under my skin Like being in love, she says, for the first time Maybe I'm wrong, I'm feeling right Where I belong with you tonight Like being in love to feel for the first time**_

.

.

At the same time that Jenna was making love to Cody, Randy was feeling frustrated. He hadn't been able to get a hold of Jenna all night. Where the hell was she? Why did he have a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach that she had somehow found her way into Cody's arms? She wouldn't do that to me, he tried to reassure himself. She loved him; she had accepted his proposal. They were planning on getting married in the very near future.

Feeling impulsive, he dialed Layla's number to see how things were going with her and Cody. He hadn't heard from her in a few days; he was beginning to wonder if she was still on board with him and their plan.

"Hello?" she stuttered into the phone before she giggled.

Great, Randy thought to himself. "Layla. It's Randy."

"Well, hey Randy! How are you?" she giggled into the phone. In the background, he could hear loud music, like at a nightclub, and people talking and laughing.

"Where are you?" he asked. "I'm calling to see how things are going with you and Cody. Has he asked you yet?" 

Layla let out a loud laugh. "Hell no. I left his sorry ass. I'm back in Miami with my girls!"

"What? What do you mean, you left him?" Randy growled into the phone. He closed his eyes in frustration; what the hell was wrong with this woman? She had worked so hard to get together with Cody and now she just left him?

"I left his sorry ass, because he can't stop moping around about Jenna!" she replied with her voice thick with contempt when she said Jenna's name.

"Where the hell is he now? Is he back on the road?"

"No. He's at home taking care of the kid; unless he already dumped her off with his dad. Not really my problem anymore."

"He's in Georgia?" he asked as he tried to swallow the lump of anxiety that was building.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Jenna's in Georgia," he said softly.

A few seconds of silence went by before Layla said something. "Well, then Mr. Orton. You had better get your ass to Georgia and get your woman," she said back before she hung up on him. She had too much dancing to do tonight to be worried about Randy and Jenna.

Randy looked down at his phone; Layla had hung up on him. Without thinking, he threw the phone across the room with all of his might and watched as it shattered into a million pieces. Pacing around the room, he thought about his next move. Did he jump to conclusions and assume that they were in bed together already, or did he give Jenna the benefit of the doubt and trust that she's sound asleep at her mother's house?

Randy was a patient man; but unfortunately, he was also a jealous man.


	52. Sneaking in the House

**Chapter 52**

They drove back to her mother's house in a comfortable silence. The sun was starting to come up. Neither one of them knew what to say about what had happened between them just a few hours ago; there really weren't any words to describe what had happened. Cody pulled into the driveway and put the car in park. He turned to Jenna. "Hey," he whispered as he took one of her hands in his and pulled her close to him. "I missed you…" he whispered in a husky voice. He didn't want her to get out of the car; he wanted to take her back home where she belonged—with him.

"I'll call you?" she whispered back before she placed a soft kiss on his cheek and got out of the car. Before she opened the screen door, she turned around and gave him a little wave before she went inside, leaving Cody to sit in the driveway for a few seconds, shocked at what had happened late last night and early this morning. Was this a turning point for them? Would they actually get back together like they should be? Or was Jenna going to be her stubborn self and go through with marrying Randy, throwing away any chance of him and Jenna getting back together? Only time will tell, he thought to himself as he put the car in reverse and slowly backed out of the driveway.

.

.

Jenna quietly closed the door behind her; glancing at the clock on the kitchen wall it was close to six o'clock in the morning. She crept through the dark kitchen and headed up the stairs. Luckily her parents were still sleeping and she wouldn't have to answer any questions about where she was all night. Not that she was really worried about that; she was thirty years old after all. But there was just something about sneaking around with Cody in the middle of the night that made her feel like she was 15 instead of 30.

She smiled to herself as she walked into her childhood bedroom. It had been an exciting night, that was for sure, she thought to herself as she caught her reflection in the mirror. She looked…happy. The smile on her face was genuine and not forced at all. How long had it been since she had felt and looked like this? She didn't want to admit the answer to herself; because she knew that the last time she had really truly and honestly felt this way was when she and Cody were happily married. Could Randy make her feel this way? Did she want Randy to make her feel this way? She looked down at her left hand and panicked for a brief moment when she didn't see the huge engagement ring on her finger. She breathed a sigh of relief when she remembered that she had taken it off and put it into her pocket before she climbed down the tree last night.

She took it out of her pocket and slipped it back on her ring finger. Undressing quickly and changing into an old faded cotton nightgown, she had intended on going straight to bed to catch a couple of hours of sleep before she went to Virgil's and picked up Mandy. She was just about to crawl in bed when her cell phone started beeping on the dresser. She forgot to take it with her last night? Jenna could only imagine how many times Randy had called her last night.

As she was scrolling through the missed call list, she had counted twelve calls from Randy so far, the phone started ringing. Seeing that Randy was calling her, she decided to answer it right away instead of letting it go to voicemail; he might have been worried when he couldn't get a hold of her last night. What little white lie could she come up with quickly in order to cover her tracks with Cody last night?

"Hello," she said in a sleepy tone, hoping that he would believe that he had woken her up.

"Hey, baby," Randy said with a relieved tone; she was finally picking up her phone. He pushed aside the urge to start yelling at her and asking where she had been all night and accusing her of being with Cody.

"Hi…..where are you?" Jenna asked as she sat down on her bed and propped herself up with a pillow.

"Boston. Were you sleeping?" 

Jenna nodded, "Yeah, it's still pretty early here. What time is it there?"

"Just about eight o'clock. What did you do last night," he finally ended up blurting out.

"Stayed here with my mom and dad. Why?" she asked, hoping that he didn't pick up on the suddenly nervous tone her voice took.

"I tried calling you last night," he said tensely, wondering if she was going to tell him the truth about where she was last night.

"Oh. I didn't hear the phone…..I slept pretty hard last night," she lied quickly.

"I see…." he trailed off. "Fly up to Boston tonight."

"What?" she asked as she sat up in bed. Did he just really ask her to jump on a flight today?

"Yeah…I miss you. Come see me….."

"I can't do that, Randy—"

"Why not?"

"What am I supposed to do with Mandy? Bring her with?"

"Well, yeah. We're going to be a family soon, Jenna. Bring her with. I miss you…." he trailed off, hoping his soft pleading was getting to her.

"All right…..I'll call you when I find a flight."

Randy smirked. "Sounds good, baby. You sound tired, why don't you get some more sleep and I'll talk to you later today. Love you…"

.

.

_**Two Weeks Later**_

After her late night rendezvous with Cody, Jenna did pick up Amanda and fly up to Boston to be with Randy for the remainder of his east coast tour. She barely had a moment away from him; he was watching her closely, certain that she had been with Cody that night he couldn't get a hold of her all night. He wanted to trust her, but it was Cody he couldn't trust. It was a little awkward for Jenna being on the arm of Randy when so many of his co-workers had first met her when she was married to Cody and the two were madly in love. She was well aware of the sideway glances she would get from certain people when she accompanied Randy to the arena. Finally, after three days of curious glances, she told Randy that she would just wait in the hotel for him with Mandy; she couldn't take the looks anymore. Of course she didn't tell her fiancé that, she just told him that she was afraid that Mandy wouldn't be able to behave for her at the arena.

Cody was back on the road as well. However, he was on a different tour schedule than Randy, so there was no chance of Jenna and Cody sneaking off alone for a few minutes. After some serious discussion with his dad, Cody reluctantly left McKenzie in the care of her grandfather. He hadn't heard from Layla in almost two weeks; it was almost as if she had given up on her daughter. When Cody got back from the tour in a few days, he was going to sit down with his lawyer and file for full custody of McKenzie and see if he could get Layla to give up her parental rights. It was going to be hard for him to try and raise the little girl on his own; but he owed to her to try the best he could to be all the parent that she would need. Thank God for his father.


	53. House Hunting

**Chapter 53**

"Mommy, I don't want to do this anymore. Can we go back to Nana's house yet?" Mandy whined as she stomped her feet and walked beside her mother. Jenna, Mandy and Randy had spent the entire morning, and the better part of the afternoon, looking at houses in the Atlanta area. Jenna had wanted to leave Mandy at her mother's house or even at Cody's, but Randy insisted that she came along while they looked.

"Do you see now why it might have been a better idea to let her spend the day with Cody?" she asked Randy as they followed the real estate agent into yet another four bedroom home on the 'richer' side of Atlanta.

"She's fine," he said quietly. He stopped walking and bent down to Mandy's eye level. "Mandy, we're going to look at this house with this nice lady and then I promise we'll go back to Nana's house, ok?" he said gently. Quite honestly, the five year old was beginning to grate on his nerves today. Normally he had an unlimited amount of patience with the little girl, but she seemed to have developed something of an obnoxious attitude as of late. Randy chalked it up to the fact that she had been spending so much time with Cody and her little sister McKenzie. McKenzie was a very spoiled child and seemed to have inherited Layla's temperament for whining. Every time Mandy would come home after spending more than a few hours with her little sister, she started in on the whining act.

"But, I just want to go home now, Randy. I don't want to look at any more houses today!" she said stubbornly as she stomped her little foot in protest.

Randy took a deep breath and then let it out. He had to keep his cool here; he knew that Jenna was watching this little interaction between him and her daughter right now. He had to prove to her that he was father material. "I know you're tired of doing this, but this is the last one, I promise. Then we're all done for the day."

Mandy stuck out her bottom lip; Randy held back a chuckle when he saw how much the little girl resembled her mother when she pouted. "Okay," she finally said and took Randy's hand.

Randy smirked at Jenna when he and Mandy walked by her, "Daddy's got it under control," he growled at her. Jenna rolled her pretty brown eyes and followed Randy and Amanda into the house. The real estate agent was already standing by the staircase, ready to rattle off interesting features about this house. Sue, the real estate agent, was also feeling frustrated and tired with these potential buyers. Every house that the woman seemed to like, the man turned down. He always wanted something bigger, and refused to look at anything within a three mile radius of one side of town. Sue wondered to herself why that section of town was so off limits.

.

.

On the 'off limits' side of town, Cody sat down on the couch and closed his eyes for a minute. It had been a long, tiresome day already and it was only one in the afternoon. His flight touched down in Atlanta late yesterday afternoon and he immediately went to his dad's house to pick up McKenzie. The little girl had been beyond thrilled that daddy had come back for her. She still hasn't stopped asking where her mommy was; Cody had no idea how to gently break it to the little girl that her mother was a flake and wasn't coming back. So instead of dwelling on how Layla had fucked them both over, he turned all of his attention to McKenzie.

They had spent all morning playing together—coloring, cartoons, dolls and anything else McKenzie could think of to do; she had worn her dad out. After attempting to feed her something for lunch, he managed to get to lay down on the floor for naptime. This was the first ten minutes he had had to himself since he got home yesterday.

After his brief rest on the couch, Cody took out his cell phone to see if she had texted him back yet. He smiled when he saw the indicator on his phone saying he had a new message.

_**I'd love to see you again. But how do I do that when he's home? JK**_

'She wants to see me again,' Cody whispered happily to himself. It had been almost three weeks since his and Jenna's late night rendezvous. He was disappointed at first when he heard that Jenna and Mandy had flown up to Boston to join Randy on his tour bus for the east coast tour. He had hoped that while Randy was away, he and Jenna could repair their relationship. Cody was called back on the road a few days after Jenna left to be with Randy. They ran into each other exactly one time during that tour. It had been a late night hotel check in that accidentally brought them together.

Cody smiled when he remembered how cute she had looked in her pajamas when he saw her in the hallway by the vending machines. Pushing her into a corner where no one could see them, he gently placed a soft kiss on her lips and breathed in her perfume. "I miss you…" he whispered as he hurriedly kissed her again and gave her his new cell phone number. Ever since that night, they haven't seen each other, except for the brief drop off and pick up of Amanda, but they've exchanged many text messages between the two of them.

_**What are you doing today? When does he leave for the road again? CGR**_

He quickly sent her the message, hoping for a quick response. Randy must not have been near her because Cody received a reply message within a few seconds.

_**We're looking at houses right now with an agent. He has to fly out to Houston for a radio interview tomorrow morning. JK**_

A huge smile broke out onto Cody's face when he realized that he could be holding Jenna in his arms as soon as tomorrow morning.

_**Let me know when he leaves, we'll figure something out. CGR**_

.

.

After Randy had tucked Amanda into bed, he shut her light off, turned on the night light and closed the door halfway. He leaned against the wall, closed his eyes for a second and then headed down the hallway to his bedroom where his beautiful fiancé was waiting. He hated this apartment; it was much too small, he couldn't wait until they finally found a house to buy.

Jenna was sitting up in bed, her long tanned legs crossed in front of her, playing with her phone. Randy watched her for a minute before stripping down to his boxers and crawling into bed with her. Very gently he reached over and took her phone away from her and set it on the nightstand on her side of the bed. "Hey," he growled as he leaned in for a kiss. One of her hands immediately went to his cheek and stroked it. "Hey," she whispered back as the kiss broke and she shifted so she was in a lying position. Randy smirked and took this as an invitation to crawl on top of her.

"Love you so much…." he mumbled into her ear as her fingernails ran up and down his bare back. "Can't wait to marry you…." He could feel her stiffen up a little when he mentioned the word 'marry'. Sighing, he pulled away from her and moved off of her. "What's wrong?" he asked. "It's like you freak out every time I mention getting married."

Jenna bit her bottom lip. "I'm sorry, it just feels like everything is moving so fast…." she said softly as she looked down at her hands. The huge diamond ring he had proposed to her with sparkled from the light of the bedside lamp.

"I told you that I would wait until you were ready, Jenna. The whole time we've been together, I've never tried to push you into something you weren't ready for. Hell, it was almost a year before you let me fuck you…."

She blushed. "You're so crude sometimes…." she trailed off as she lifted her glance from her hands and for herself staring directly into his steel blue eyes.

Randy chuckled, "That's one of the reasons why you love me, Jenna. I'm blunt and to the point. And speaking of things that are at a point," he glanced down at his boxers and then looked up at her. With a big smile on his face, he crawled back on top of her and proceeded to try and drive her insane with soft kisses and gentle nips on her neck and ear lobe, as his big hands started to wander down to her little pajama shorts. Randy Orton always got what he wanted.


	54. Mommy's Phone

**Chapter 54**

"Are you sure you can't come with me," Randy asked softly as he nuzzled Jenna's neck. He had to leave for the airport in fifteen minutes and he was desperately trying to convince his fiancé to come with him to Houston.

"I can't. I have to stay here with Amanda," she whispered back and leaned against him; he tightened his arms around her waist and ground his hips into her backside.

"Hmmm….we could bring her over to Nana's pretty quick; or she could go stay with that dead beat father of hers," he murmured as his lips started to explore the back of her neck. He felt her stiffen up when he called Cody a deadbeat. 'Damn it,' he thought to himself as she moved away from him.

"Please don't start in on Cody. He's going through a rough time right—" she started to say before he cut her off.

"What do you know about Cody going through a rough time, Jenna?" he asked with his tone of voice full of accusation and jealousy.

She sighed and started to walk away from him. "I don't want to talk about this right now, Randy," she said softly as she left their bedroom and walked down the hallway into the kitchen.

Randy let out a small growl of frustration before he grabbed his overnight bag off of the bed and headed down the kitchen. He had to leave soon for a day and a half and he didn't want to leave if she was upset with him. Jenna being upset might make her start to rethink their relationship. He found her in the kitchen facing the sink. He dropped his bag on the floor and walked over to her, placing his big hands on her narrow waist. "Please don't be mad at me," she whispered.

"I'm not….I just don't understand why you constantly defend him. It's not like he made your life any easier over the past year. If anything, I would think that you would be ecstatic that he's not in your life anymore."

She sighed again. "No matter what happened between me and him, he's still Amanda's father."

"I know. Trust me, I know," Randy said quietly. "I have to leave in a few minutes. Are you sure you two girls don't want to come with me? We could find a hotel that has a waterpark and let Mandy run wild," he said with a smile as he thought of how much his soon-to-be stepdaughter would love to spend a week at a waterpark.

"Not this time, honey. I have a lot to do here, with packing, and making sure that all the paperwork for Mandy's school is filled out," she rattled on about menial tasks that she needed to take care of before they moved.

"Hmm….But I'm going to miss you…." he mumbled as he pulled her closer to him again. "Miss you so much….Promise me that while I'm gone you'll start making wedding plans, baby. I can't wait to marry you…." he trailed off as he placed one more kiss on the back of her neck, slapped her ass and pulled away from her.

He yelled into the living room. "Amanda! I'm leaving, come say good-bye."

Within seconds Mandy sprinted from the living room into the kitchen and wrapped her little arms around Randy's legs. "How long are you going away for?" she asked as she hugged his legs tightly.

Randy chuckled. "I'll be back tomorrow night. You won't even know I'm gone."

Mandy stuck out her bottom lip. "Yes I will. You won't be here to read to me before I go to sleep tonight," she pouted. Randy looked down at the little girl that looked so much like the object of his affection; he picked her up.

"I'm sure mommy will read to you tonight," he whispered in her ear.

"Yeah, but she doesn't do it like you do," she pouted again as she laid her little brunette head on his shoulder.

"You'll be fine. Tell you what, if you're a good girl, I'll be sure to bring you back something from Texas, ok?"

A smile broke out onto the five year old's face. "Promise?"

"Promise," he said before he kissed the top of her head and set her back down on the ground. "Go play. I've got to say good-bye to mama."

He waited until Mandy went back into the living room before he grabbed Jenna by the waist and pulled him closer to her. Without waiting for her to realize what was happening, he covered her sweet mouth with his and kissed her with enough passion to leave her breathless. "I'll miss you," he whispered.

"Call me when you land?" she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around his waist for a hug. He squeezed her tight and mumbled 'I will', before he let go of her and grabbed his bag from the floor and headed out the door.

.

.

Jenna waited ten minutes after Randy left to be sure that he wasn't coming back unexpectantly. She found her cell phone and dialed his number. It rang a few times before he picked up. She could hear a screaming child in the background before he could say hello.

"Everything all right," she asked.

"Um. Not really. McKenzie is being a pain today…" he said quickly. "Can you come over and help? I would have called my dad but he took off for the day," he asked with a twinge of desperation in his voice. "I know I shouldn't be asking, but you were always able to calm….McKenzie! No!" he yelled before it sounded like he threw his phone down and Jenna heard something crash and then the loud wail of a screaming toddler.

Mandy chose this moment to wander into the kitchen. "Hey, Mandy?" Jenna asked quietly. "Do you want to go play with your sister today?"

Mandy let out a squeal of delight and jumped up and down. "Yes! I'll go get my dolls!" she said before she ran out of the kitchen and down the hallway to her bedroom.

Cody came back on the phone. "What happened?" she asked.

He sighed in frustration. "That damn yappy dog that Layla left here somehow got on top of the television and McKenzie had almost climbed up there but she fell down before she could get to the dog. Are you coming over? Please?" he pleaded.

Jenna held back a giggle. "Yeah, we'll be there in a few minutes. Hang in there, daddy," she said before she hung up the phone.

.

.

After Jenna and Mandy arrived at Cody's house, she was able to calm down McKenzie within a few minutes. She then sent the girls off to play in McKenzie's room. After she was sure that were out of earshot, she turned to Cody. "Hey…." she said softly.

He smiled and walked over to her. Wrapping his arms around her waist, "Hey," he said back as he leaned down and kissed her gently on the mouth. "I miss you…." he said as he went to sit down on the couch, pulling her into his lap as he did. "You have no idea how much I miss you, Jenna."

She laid her head on his shoulder. "Why do we do this to ourselves, Cody? You know this is wrong; I'm engaged to someone else….."

"Jenna, if you were really happy with Randy, you wouldn't be here right now. You would have told me to fuck off and to take care of my own kid. But instead, you called me this morning and you came rushing over as soon as I needed you to. You miss me as much as I miss you. Face it, baby, we're meant to be together…it's supposed to be me and you….."

"I can't stop loving you; I don't know how to, Cody. But things are different now. I still can't get over the hurt that you caused me when I found out about Layla—"

"I'm sorry, Jen. I don't know how many times I can say that, but I am sorry….." he murmured as he covered her mouth with his again. Her kiss was addicting; he couldn't get enough of it.

.

.

Meanwhile, in McKenzie's bedroom, the girls were playing with their dolls quietly. McKenzie toddled over to her bed where she had a toy purse and brought it over to her big sister. "Look, Mandy. Phone," she said with glee as she pulled out a pink iPhone. Mandy knew right away that it was her mommy's phone.

"McKenzie! That's my mommy's phone! You can't play with that. Where did you find that you silly girl," she giggled as she held out her hand to her little sister.

"I find it," McKenzie said proudly. "It mine."

"No, no. it's my mommy's, we have to give it back to her." Just then the song 'Voices' by Rev Theory came blasting out of the phone. Mandy let out a little squeal. "That's Randy!" Looking down at the phone, Mandy tried to remember which button mommy always pushed to make the other person start talking. Within a minute she found the button. "Hi Randy!" she said gleefully.

Randy was stunned; why was Mandy answering Jenna's phone? He had just landed in Houston and had wanted to let Jenna know that he had made it ok. "Hi princess; what are you doing?" he asked as he settled back on his hotel bed and prepared himself for a detailed account of what Mandy had been doing since he left the house six hours ago.

"I'm playing with McKenzie!" she said happily. "We're in her room, which used to be my room, and we're playing with her dolls."

"You're at your daddy's house?" Randy asked, trying like hell to keep his voice low and calm right now. However, inside he was absolutely furious that Jenna was at Cody's house. 'Calm down,' he told himself, maybe that asshole is just babysitting while Jenna went out to run some errands.

"Yep. Mommy asked me if I wanted to come over and play with McKenzie. She was crying really hard, so me and mommy came over, and we made her feel better. McKenzie's not crying anymore. Do you think it's because I'm a good big sister, Randy?" she prattled on.

"Of course it is," he said distractedly. "Mandy, why do you have mommy's phone?"

"Oh. Because McKenzie found it and we were playing with it while Mommy talked to Daddy. Are you mad?" she asked, fearful that her friend Randy would be mad at her for touching mommy's phone.

"Of course not, princess. Where is mommy? Did she drop you off at your daddy's?"

"No, she's still here. Do you want me to go find her?"

"Yes, please."

Randy listened as Mandy carried the phone with her and was walking. A few minutes went by before Mandy started talking to Randy again. "Hi Randy," she said.

"Hi, Mandy. Where is your mommy?"

"Mommy can't talk to you right now, Randy," she said quietly.

"Why not, princess?" Randy asked as he swallowed the lump that was forming in his throat.

"Because. She can't talk right now."

Randy sighed. "Mandy, what is she doing that she can't talk to me right now?" he was started to get frustrated.

"Because you can't talk when you're kissing someone, right?" she said innocently.

He swore his heart was going to stop beating right now. "Who is mommy kissing?" he demanded.

"Daddy."

Son of a bitch….


	55. Loving You

**Chapter 55**

"Are they sleeping?" Jenna asked quietly as she leaned against the wall in Cody's bedroom. He nodded as he took her all in; she still took his breath away. He knew that what him and Jenna were about to do wasn't right. She had promised to marry someone else; Cody was out of second chances. He took a step towards her and tentatively lifted his hand to stroke her cheek. "Jenna…." he whispered. "Do you mean it? Do you mean it when you say that you can't stop loving me?"

_**There's a time and place for everything, for everyone We can push with all our might, but nothin's gonna come Oh no, nothin's gonna change And if I asked you not to try Oh could you let it be I wanna hold you and say We can't throw this all away Tell me you won't go, you won't go Do you have to hear me say**_

Jenna nodded. "I can't stop. I don't know how…." she said softly as she refused to look at him right now. The girls had gone to lay down for a nap, leaving her and Cody alone for at least two hours. "Look at me," he mumbled as he continued to stroke her cheek. "Please, Jen….."

She lifted her face up to his and saw him. The boy she had fallen in love with so long ago. "This isn't right….." she mumbled.

"I know. But we just….we just have to go with it. It feels right…." he whispered back as his hand moved from her cheek, down her neck and slowly and softly stroked the soft skin on her sternum. Moving his hand other hand up to her face, he leaned in and kissed her very gently on the lips, giving her another opportunity to put an end to this. Whatever this was.

_**I can't stop lovin' you And no matter what I say or do You know my heart is true, oh I can't stop loving you**_

Cody's hands wandered down to the hem of her tank top and swallowed the lump in his throat as he lifted her shirt off of her and tossed it on the floor. He felt his heart rate pick up when he took her all in again. Hesitantly, his hands went behind her back as he tried to unhook her light pink bra. She shivered in his arms as he removed it from her shoulders and dropped it on the floor. With trembling fingertips, he traced lazy circles from her sternum, down to her full breasts, stopping briefly to gently tease her already erect nipples. She let out a little whimper when he touched her. "Shhhh…." he whispered. "I'll never hurt you again, Jen. I promise," he whispered as he bent his head down and captured one of her aching points in his mouth. She let out a soft groan and started to run her fingers through his dark hair, pulling him closer to her.

"Cody…." she whimpered as he brought his face back up to hers. He tilted his head to the side and waited for her to continue. Her hands left his hair and went to the hem of his t-shirt, quickly pulling it over his head and discarding it on the floor. "I want you….." she whispered as she traced his abdominal muscles with her soft fingertips.

Cody took the hint and started to unbutton her jeans. With fumbling fingers, he finally got them unbuttoned and unzipped. He watched with lust filled eyes as she slid them down her long legs and stepped out of them, leaving her in front of him in just her panties. "You're so beautiful, Jenna Kay," he whispered as he took her hand and led her over to his bed. He gently laid her down and slowly took off his jeans and discarded them.

_**You change your friends, your place in life You can change your mind, we can change the way we say And do anytime Oh no, but I think you'll find That when you look inside your heart Oh baby, I'll be there, yeah**_

He crawled on top of her, his hands traveling down her sides and his fingers hooked inside her delicate panties, very slowly her slid them down her legs and dropped them on the floor. He bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. Was this really happening right now?

"Cody?" she murmured, bringing him back to reality. She stroked the hair on the back of his head and pulled him down for a kiss. His tongue poked her lips, asking for entrance, and she gladly obliged as her hands wandered from the back of his head, down his smooth back and finally to the waistband of his boxer shorts, sliding them off slowly and letting his hard member free. "Make love to me…." she mumbled as she started placing soft kisses along his strong jawline. "I love you…..I don't care if this is wrong right now, I need to feel you…..show me that you still love me…." she trailed off as she took one of his hands and slowly moved it over to her center, encouraging him to go inside her. "Jenna," he mumbled into her neck as his blunt fingers found what he was looking for; she involuntarily bucked her hips at him suddenly when he found her sensitive bundle of nerves. She cried out softly as he continued to slide his two fingers in and out of her and his thumb kept running over her womanly pearl slowly.

He withdrew his fingers from her depths and brought them to his mouth, licking her off of his fingers, he smiled down at her. He leaned down and kissed her deeply so she could taste herself on his lips. While he was deepening the kiss, he flipped them over so she was on top of him. Letting her take control, he placed his hands on her breasts as she slowly lowered herself onto his throbbing member. He let out a hiss of pleasure when he felt her take him all in at once. They stayed like that for a few seconds before he put his hands on her hips and she started moving up and down. She closed her eyes and threw her head back; enjoying the pleasure she was giving herself right now while Cody looked up at her and smiled.

_**Hold on I'm holding on Baby, just come on, come on, come on I just wanna hear you say I can't stop lovin' you And no matter what you say or do You know my heart is true, oh I can't stop lovin' you**_

**. . . . . . . . .**

Randy cancelled his media appearance for the next day and caught the first flight he could find back to Atlanta. After he had made Mandy promise not to tell her mother that he had called, he promptly punched a huge hole in the hotel wall and cussed Cody Runnels out. "Son of a bitch," he kept mumbling to himself as he drove back to the airport.

He made it back to Atlanta in record time. He was going straight to their apartment, for Jenna's sake, she had better hope that she was home. He would wait for her if she wasn't; she had some major explaining to do. He nervously hoped that the little girl had seen it all wrong and that his beautiful fiancé wasn't actually kissing her ex-husband. Somehow, however, Randy didn't think he was going to get that lucky.

_**Oh, I'm so twisted and tied And all I remember Was how hard we tried Only to surrender And when it's over I know how it's gonna be And true love will never die No, not fade away**_

He frowned when he saw that her car wasn't in the parking lot. With a bad feeling in the pit of his stomach, he grabbed his duffel bag out of the backseat and headed inside. He would just wait for her to get back from her lover and confront her then.


	56. Bad Liar

**Chapter 56**

It was almost two hours before Jenna came back to their apartment. Randy had been sitting in the living room, with the lights off, waiting for her to come home. He kept debating within himself whether or not to actually confront her about kissing Cody, or if he should just let it be. The jealous man inside of him wanted to confront her; he wanted to demand to know what the hell she thought she was doing with her ex-husband when she was supposed to be engaged to him. The man in love with her, wanted to forget about it, never speak about it again, and just go ahead and marry her.

Finally after waiting for two hours, he heard the front door unlock and she came inside. She dropped her purse and car keys on the table by the door and walked through the living room and down the hallway to the bathroom; she didn't see him sitting in the dark. He waited a few minutes before he heard the sound of the shower start to run. He crept down the hallway and stood by the bathroom door. The door was ajar and he peeked inside. Even though he's seen her naked a thousand times, she still took his breath away; she was indeed the perfect woman. Jealousy started to build within him as he thought about Cody's hands and lips all over that perfect body.

Sighing he walked back down the hallway and sat back down in his recliner. He would just have to wait for her to finish her shower and then think about what he was going to do after that. A thought popped into his head—where was Amanda? Did she leave her at Cody's house? Did she actually have sex with Cody while her daughter was in the house? Not only did the thought of his Jenna having sex with Cody make his blood start to boil, he was starting to feel angry that Jenna would expose her daughter to that kind of activity. Sure, she probably didn't do it right in front of Mandy, but Randy was sure that Mandy had seen Jenna and Cody kissing, which probably led to other….things.

Ten minutes later, Randy heard the shower turn off and Jenna went into the living room with a towel wrapped around her. He got off the chair and went into the bedroom. She was busy standing by her dresser looking for something to wear when Randy came up behind her and wrapped his long arms around her waist. She let out a loud scream and turned around. Randy smirked at her as she brought her hand up to slap him on the chest. "Randy? What the hell? You almost gave me a heart attack!" she shouted at him.

"Sorry, baby….I wanted to surprise you…" he growled softly as he wondered how quickly he could yank that towel down before she realized what was happening.

"What are you doing home? I thought you were in Houston until tomorrow night?" she asked as she tilted her head to the side. "Did something happen?"

"No…I just decided to cancel my interview and come home. I missed you….." he said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her waist again and pulled her close to him. "Missed you so much…..couldn't bear to be apart from you tonight."

"Aren't you going to get in trouble for canceling your interview?"

Randy shook his head. "Fuck 'em. I'm Randy Orton…." he growled before he bent down and captured her soft lips in a passionate kiss. Jenna's arms went from her sides to his shoulders and dragged her fingernails down his skin; he let out a hiss of pleasure as he broke the kiss. "Where's the kid?" he whispered as he started to move them towards the bed.

"Staying at her dad's," she whispered as she let the towel drop. She saw the look of lust form in Randy's eyes as he looked her up and down. It was at that moment that Randy decided that he would wait to confront Jenna about Cody. Right now, he had some business to take care of….

.

.

"Randy….Randy…." Jenna whimpered as her fiancé kept slamming into her. "Please…." she whispered as she drug her nails down his back, waiting for her sweet release. Jenna knew what she was doing right now was wrong; she should not be having sex with Randy right now. What was more wrong than this right now was the fact that not even three hours ago, she was tangled up in the sheets with Cody. She let out a loud cry as her body took over and she closed her eyes and let the pleasure wash over her.

Randy looked down and smirked at her. "Good?" he growled before his bent his head down and bit gently on her shoulder. With a few more thrusts, he had found his release as well. "Love you so fucking much…." he mumbled into her shoulder. After a few minutes of lying there, breathing hard and absent minded kisses, he pulled out of her and lay down next to her. "I love you, too," he heard her mumble as he leaned over the side of the bed to throw the used condom into the wastebasket.

He crawled back into bed with her and wrapped his arms around her slender shoulders, "What did you do today, baby?" he asked. He was giving her an opportunity to confess what she had been doing with Cody. He had a bad feeling that she was going to lie to him.

"Hmm…not much, I brought Mandy over to Cody's to spend some time with him…." she trailed off as she rattled off some other miscellaneous things that she had done today, careful to leave out the part where she made love to Cody. It never occurred to Jenna that the reason Randy was home early was because he knew about her and Cody; the thought never crossed her mind. She had had no idea that the girls had gotten a hold of her cell phone earlier. After Mandy was done speaking to Randy, she had crept out into the kitchen and had placed her mother's phone next to her purse. She was sure to let her little sister know that it was not all right to play with mommy's phone.

"What did Cody have to say today?" he asked quietly.

"Not much. He was home for a couple of days and that McKenzie was being a terror," she replied nonchalantly.

" I see…." Randy was debating within himself whether or not now was the right time to confront her. "Did Mandy tell you that I called this afternoon?" he asked.

The look on Jenna's face told the whole story. "No…." she said carefully. "What time was that? And how did you talk to her?"

"I called your cell phone and she said that you were busy right now. She said that her little sister must have grabbed it off the table and was playing with it. What were you so busy doing, Jen?" he asked as he moved away from her and watched her face; waiting to see if she was going to tell a lie to cover her own ass or not.

"I was talking to Cody in the living room…why didn't she bring the phone to me?" she asked, trying to blame this on Mandy for not giving her the phone.

"She said you were busy. And then I asked her what you were busy doing. And imagine my surprise when she said that mommy couldn't talk right now, because she was kissing someone." At this point Jenna stopped breathing. "I asked her who mommy was kissing. Again, imagine my surprise when she said that mommy was kissing daddy."

Shit, shit shit! Jenna screamed inside her head. "There must have been a mistake; I wasn't doing anything with Cody like that," she said defensively.

"Are you sure?" Randy asked as he got off the bed and looked around for his boxer shorts and jeans.

"Yeah, I'm sure," she said quickly.

"You're a real bad liar, Jenna," was all he said before he finished zipping up his jeans and walked out of their bedroom.


	57. Regret?

**Chapter 57**

Jenna jumped off the bed, grabbed her robe and ran out in the living room. Randy was standing in the middle of the room, his hands on his head, mumbling to himself. "Randy…let me explain, please," she said softly as she reached out to touch his back. At the feeling of her touch, he whipped around and glared at her.

"Let you explain what, Jenna? Aren't you going to deny it? Aren't you going to say that Mandy was wrong, that you weren't kissing Cody? Tell me exactly what you need to explain to me," he growled as he looked down at her in disgust. He felt sick to his stomach as he took in her kiss-swollen lips, her half glazed brown eyes and her messy hair. He had just made love to her after she had fucked Cody. How could she do this to him?

"I'm so sorry, Randy. Let me explain what happened—" she started to say.

Randy let out a chuckle. "What do you need to explain to me, Jen? Did you do it? Did you kiss him?"

Jenna nodded; Randy swore under his breath. "Why?"

She shrugged her shoulders. He reached out and grabbed her shoulders. He thought about shaking her, but thought better of that; he never wanted to hurt her—physically or emotionally. "I don't know isn't an answer, Jenna. What did you do with Cody today?"

"We made love," she finally answered after a few seconds.

Randy's jaw dropped. "I can't believe you…why? Why would you do that Jenna?"

She shrugged her shoulders and tried to hold back the tears that were welling up in her eyes.

"I asked you why you did it?"

"I'm still in love with him," she whispered as she looked down at the floor.

"How long?" he asked quietly as he sat down in a chair and put his hands in his head. "How long, Jenna?"

"Since I was 15; I can't stop. I'm so sorry, Randy…."

"After everything he did to you, lied to you, cheated on you, had a baby with Layla. You still love him?"

She nodded. "Yeah…."

"You're a fool, Jenna. You really are. Whatever sweet words he's whispering in your ear lately is only because he doesn't want to raise that kid by himself. He wants someone to stay home and take care of his mess while he's out on the road. And whoever does that for him is a sucker, Jen."

"You don't understand, Randy—" she started to say before he cut her off again.

"You're right, Jenna, I don't understand. I don't understand why you continually insist on being a doormat for Cody Runnels. He. Cheated. On. You. He doesn't love you—"

"That's not true! He does love me!" she cried.

"Not like I do…." Randy mumbled. "I tried everything I could to try and help you forget him and to help you move on with your life. But apparently all that was a waste because you "love" Cody. And he "loves" you. If you two loved each other so much, why did you get a divorce? Tell me, Jenna. Tell me why you two are legally married anymore?"

"He cheated on me," she admitted softly.

"Exactly. And if you two got back together right now, what makes you think that he wouldn't do it again? You two aren't meant to be together; there's a reason why you're divorced and there's a reason why you finally let me into your life. I promised that I wasn't going to hurt you; I promised to take it slow with you. When I proposed to you, you could have said no, but you said yes. Do you what that told me? That told me that you were over Cody and that you were ready to move on with your life. Without him."

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she sat down on the couch. He glared at her for a moment before his gaze wandered down to her left hand. He hadn't noticed it before. "Where's your engagement ring?" he asked softly. She looked down at her hand and her face told the truth. She had taken it off when she had made love to Cody.

"Where is it, Jenna? Did you take it off after I left this morning?" Jenna sat in silence on the couch, wondering how she was going to dig herself out of this mess that she had gotten herself into. "Fucking answer me! Where the hell is the diamond ring I gave you, Jenna?" he shouted as he abruptly stood up.

"I took it off," she whispered.

"Why?" he asked bluntly, afraid that he was going to find out more than he wanted to know right now about his beloved fiancé.

"So….I didn't feel guilty," she stuttered.

He crossed the room in three steps and knelt in front of her. "I'm sick of this one sided conversation. Answer me. Why did you take off your engagement ring?"

Wiping the tears from her eyes, she looked up at Randy's steel cold blue eyes. "I took it off, so that when I had sex with Cody this afternoon I wouldn't have to look at it and think of you," she finally spat out. Randy's face turned red and he resisted the urge to slap her pretty face hard.

"You bitch. Get your shit and get out," he yelled at her before he stood up and stomped away from her.

"What? What the hell are you talking about, Randy? Where the hell—"

"Are you serious? Are you really this dense? I want you to get your shit, and get the fuck out of my apartment. Now."

Jenna's jaw dropped and she quickly got off the couch and ran down the hallway to the bedroom. She quickly disrobed and pulled on a pair of jeans a hooded sweatshirt. Wiping the tears from her face that kept falling, she started throwing enough clothes for a couple of days into a suitcase. When she had enough clothes, she went across the hall to Mandy's room to start packing some stuff for her. She let out a gasp of surprise when she walked into her daughter's bedroom and saw Randy standing there. "What are you doing?" she asked quietly as she pulled Mandy's Tinkerbell suitcase out of the closet.

"I think the question is what are you doing?" he replied.

"You just told me to get out. I'm packing my daughter's things—"

"You know what, Jen? I was really looking forward to marrying you and becoming a father to Amanda. That kid has really grown on me over the past year. I wanted to show her how a real man acts like a father. Unlike that loser she has to call daddy."

"Stop it!" Jenna screamed. "You have no right to talk about—"

"Ah shut the hell up, Jenna! If it wasn't for me, you would still be crying over Cody, falling apart and living with your mother. I wanted to give you a new life. I wanted to show you that not all men are worthless scumbags like Cody. And I thought I had shown you that. But you went and fucked it all up!'

"I'm done talking to you," she mumbled as she turned around to start getting clothes out of the drawers. Randy grabbed her shoulder and whipped her back around.

"Too bad, I'm not done talking to you," he growled. He was about to say more when they both heard the sound of Jenna's cell phone start to ring in their bedroom. Randy was quicker than her and darted across the hallway and grabbed her phone. He smirked at the caller id and answered it.

"Hello," he growled into her phone while she rushed into the room and watched helplessly.

"Oh. Hey Randy, is Jenna around?" Cody asked nervously as he tried to swallow the big lump that was forming in his throat. "I thought you went to Texas for the day…"

"Came back early. What do you want, Runnels?"

"I want to talk to Jenna."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, why? She's the mother of my child, I want to talk—"

"Layla's the mother of your child too, but you don't seem to want to talk to her. What do you want from Jenna? She's busy right now."

Cody was frustrated. "What is she busy doing? I'll call her back." 

"She's busy getting dumped right now and getting her shit out of my apartment, that's what she's doing."

Cody was silent. He closed his eyes and tried to remember to breathe. Him and Jenna had gotten caught.

"Randy, give me my phone," Jenna said quietly as she took a step towards him. He cocked his head to the side and smirked before he threw her phone against the wall with all of his might; Jenna screamed as she watched her phone break into a million pieces.

"What the fuck did you do that for?" she screamed at him.

"It's only fair, Jen. That's what you just did to my heart," he growled at her as he took a step closer to her. He couldn't control his anger any longer. He has just confirmed that the woman he had been in love with, and had planned to marry, was cheating on him. "I thought I told you to get out?" he said quietly as he kept moving towards her and she kept moving backwards.

With a choked sob, Jenna turned on her hell, grabbed her suitcase, and Mandy's, and headed towards the front door. Grabbing her purse and car keys, she slammed the door shut behind her and hurried out to her car. Before she started the car and drove away, she looked up to the window that was their living room. She saw Randy standing there, watching her leave. As she backed out of the parking spot, she swore she saw something different in his eyes. It wasn't really anger, and it wasn't hate. It almost looked like….regret.


	58. I'm Sorry

**A/N Don't get mad at me when you read this one! I'm going somewhere with it, I SWEAR! Read, review and enjoy : )**

**Chapter 58**

Randy watched Jenna drive out of the parking lot; he immediately felt guilty for how he had confronted her. He didn't intend to be so mean to him. He didn't want to break up with her at all; he still wanted to marry her. There must be some way to keep her and to somehow look past her little fling with Cody. Sighing, he looked around for his car keys and headed downstairs. There were two places she would go right now; he hoped he found her before she ran to Cody.

Within a few minutes he arrived at his destination. He felt a little bit better when he saw Jenna's car in the driveway. He could just imagine how pissed off she was right now; probably talking shit about him, and crying into her mama's arms. With a big sigh, he turned his truck off and walked up the front porch. Before he even knocked, he could hear her crying. He lifted his hand to knock and within seconds, she stopped crying. Alice appeared at the door a few seconds later. "Come in, Randy," she said quietly as she opened the door for him. She didn't appear to be upset with him; in fact, she almost looked relieved that her daughter's fiancé had shown up to track her down so quickly. Cody would have spent a few days being pissed off at her before he came begging for forgiveness.

"Jenna here?" he said quietly as he followed Alice inside. They stopped in the kitchen; Jenna was sitting at the kitchen table wiping tears from her face. "Hey," he said quietly as he sat down next to her.

"What are you doing here?" she spat at him.

"I don't want it to end like this, Jen…." he trailed off.

"We have nothing—" she started to say before he mother cut her off.

"Jenna Kay. Maybe you should at least listen to what Randy has to say before you decide it's over," she said gently. "I'll leave you two alone; I'll be in the other room if you need anything, princess" she said before she left the room, shooting her only daughter a pleading look as she walked away.

"Randy, you made it perfectly clear that it was over between us; I don't know what else we have to talk about," she whispered as she looked down at her hands.

"I'm not very good at this; but I'm sorry for the way I yelled at you a little while ago. I….I really love you. There, I said it. I know I'm not the most sentimental guy out there, but I do love you and I still want to marry you. I also still want to try and be a father to Amanda," he mumbled as he looked down at the floor.

"Why?" she whispered.

"Why what?"

"Why do you still love me? Why do you still want to marry me? Why do you still want to be a part of my life after what I confessed to you today?" she said as she finally looked up.

"I waited a long time to get a chance to be with you, and I don't want to give up this easily. We can work this out. Talk to me, Jenna. Talk to me about….him," he couldn't force himself to call Cody by his name.

"I love him, Randy. I've been in love with him half of my life; I don't know how to stop loving him," she whimpered.

"Do you love me, though?" he asked as he finally forced himself to look at her. He tentatively put an arm around the back of her chair. "I love you, Jenna. I only want to make you happy…I would never hurt you the way he did. You must somewhere in that pretty head of yours, that he doesn't love you back. He can't. If he did, he wouldn't have hurt you the way he did," he leaned over and whispered in her ear. Randy knew that he was laying it on pretty thick right now; but over the years, he had learned that this is how he could get her or any woman for that matter, to see things his way.

She nodded. "I do…You're so good to me and Amanda…." she whispered back as she let herself lean into his embrace a little bit. "I don't deserve you…."

He placed a soft kiss on her forehead. "No, honey, Cody doesn't deserve you. Let me make you happy. We can forget all about this fight today and still get married."

"But…..how can you just forget about it? I had sex with Cody….." she asked as she looked up at him, her brown eyes desperately trying to decipher his level of sincerity.

"It's going to be hard. I don't like the thought of him touching you, kissing you, making you sigh….But…I think we could get past this. There's going to have to be some changes though, baby…."

"I still can't believe you're forgiving me for this…." she mumbled.

"You can't be alone with Cody anymore…..it's not that I don't trust **you**, I don't trust **him**. I'm sure you told him that you still love him, and Jenna, I know him. I know him better than you do. He's using your feelings for him to get what he wants…." he said softly as he pulled her closer and played with a lock of hair. "He isn't in love with you the way that I am."

Alice had said that she was going into the living room, but really she standing on the other side of the doorway, listening to Randy try and sweet talk her daughter into not breaking up with him. He was a smooth talker that was for sure….

"I'm so sorry, Randy…" she whispered as she laid her head on his shoulder. "You've been so good to me and Mandy…..but I found a way to fuck it all up—"

"Jenna, I'm giving you another chance…I want you. I want you in my life…..Say yes…." he murmured as he nibbled gently on her ear lobe, causing her to shiver against him.

"I'm sorry, Randy….." she mumbled again.

"I know, baby. I know…."

.

.

Randy and Jenna stayed at her mother's house for another hour or so before they announced that things were going to work out and they headed home. Jenna got to the apartment first and unlocked the door. She went to lie down on the couch; this had been such a strange day and she was having a hard time processing everything that had happened.

Randy came upstairs a few minutes later and shut the door quietly behind him. He went over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Where's Mandy?" he asked as he gently rubbed her back.

"At Cody's," she whispered.

"Do you want to go get her and bring her home?"

Jenna nodded. She went to sit up and start to get ready to go pick up her daughter when Randy stopped her.

"We need to talk about Cody before you go get her. I don't want you alone with him anymore. I understand that he's Mandy's dad, but there isn't any reason for you to be near him unless it's picking up or dropping Mandy off."

She nodded. She was still in a state of shock at what had happened today. "I'll go with you to get her tonight or we'll call Virgil and have him pick her up. But under no circumstances are you to be alone with him anymore. Jenna, if you ever want a chance at living your life without him, you gotta trust me on this, honey," he said softly as he stroked her hair. She nodded again, wondering when she had turned into such a submissive woman…..

.

.

An hour later, Virgil, with Mandy in tow, knocked on the apartment door of Randy and Jenna. He looked down at his little granddaughter and hoped that he was doing the right thing by bringing her home after Randy had called him.

"_Virgil, this is Randy Orton."_

"_Uh, well hello there Randall. What can I do for you today? How are your folks doing?"_

"_They're fine, thanks for asking. Say, I got a favor to ask of you. Would you mind going over to Cody's and picking up Amanda and bringing her home?"_

"_I suppose I could do that…..I thought little Mandy was spending the night at her daddy's though. They don't spend nearly enough time together, you know."_

"_Here's the thing, we're going to surprise Mandy with a trip to a waterpark tomorrow and we need her home. Would you mind doing this for us?"_

"_I suppose so. Why doesn't the lovely Jenna just pick her up?"_

"_She isn't feeling well right now," he lied quickly as he looked over at Jenna._

"_I see. Well, I suppose. I will just run on over there and bring the little darlin' home….."_

Randy answered the door. Immediately Mandy let out a squeal of delight. "Randy! You're home early!" she squealed as she threw herself into her friend's arms. "I thought you were going to be gone a long time!"

"I decided that I missed you and mommy too much to be away tonight," he whispered to the little girl while catching Virgil's eye. "Virgil, would you like to come in for a couple of minutes?" he asked as he moved aside.

"I'd love to, but I've got to get back to Cody. My boy's all upset that little Mandy couldn't spend more time with him. It's a shame, Randall. My son really loves that little girl and wishes that things had turned out differently between him and the lovely Jenna."

"Cody will learn to adapt," Randy said with a smile before he shut the door in Virgil's face. He turned his attention to Mandy, who was sitting on Jenna's lap. "Mandy, guess what?" Randy said as he sat down on the floor in front of the couch. "Me and your mommy have a surprise for you…."

"Oh my gosh! What? What? Tell me!" she trilled.

"How would you like to come with me and mommy on a little trip? We'll find a hotel that has a waterpark—"

"Oh my gosh! Randy! That would be so much fun! I'm going to go find my swimming suit right now!" she shouted with glee as she leaped off of her mother's lap and ran down the hallway to her bedroom.

"Thank you," Jenna said softly as she reached for Randy's hand.

"Anything for you, baby. Anything…."


	59. Why Wait?

**Chapter 59**

Randy watched his fiancé sleep. It had been a long day; they had tucked Mandy into bed over an hour ago. He smiled when he thought about how excited his soon to be stepdaughter had been about going to a waterpark in the morning. Randy leaned over and pushed some hair out of Jenna's face. "Baby…" he mumbled in her ear. She stirred a little but didn't open her eyes. "I'm going to head out to the gym for a quick workout." She nodded and he continued, "I'll be back within an hour." She nodded again and Randy crawled out of bed, threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and headed out the door. He wasn't really going to the gym, he was on his way to make sure that a certain somebody knew that it was time to leave his fiancé alone.

.

.

Randy drove slowly down the street that Cody lived on; his car wasn't in the driveway. There was another place that he might be. He headed back on the highway to Marietta. Asshole probably ran home to his father, Randy smirked to himself. What a loser. Did Cody really expect that his father would somehow magically be able to make this all better? He shook his head at the thought.

Randy smiled to himself when he was right; Cody did run to his parents' house. Loser, he thought to himself. There was a single light on in the living room. Glancing at the radio, he saw that it was close to midnight. Oh, well, he thought to himself; he couldn't sleep knowing that Cody had had his slimy hands all over his Jenna. This had to end tonight.

He slammed the door of his truck shut and walked up the front steps. He pounded loudly on the door and then waited. He didn't hear anything right away, so he pounded again; this time a light came on in the kitchen and he could hear someone walking towards the door. Randy clenched and unclenched his fist, hoping that it was Cody who answered the door and not Virgil. He would hate to have to explain to him why he was looking for his son so late at night. He pounded on the door again just as the inside door swung open and a very surprised Cody stood there. "Oh shit," Cody mumbled loud enough for Randy to hear. Randy smirked at him, opened the screen door and grabbed Cody by the shirt, yanking him outside. He didn't give Cody a chance to realize what was going on before Randy pulled his fist back and punched Cody square in the jaw. Cody stumbled backwards, falling off the front steps. Randy immediately pounced on him and laid another punch in the face. "Stay the fuck away from Jenna. You had your chance. You blew it. She belongs with me now," he growled in Cody's ear before he got one more punch in.

"What in the sam hell in going on here?" a voice shouted from the front steps. Randy looked up and saw Virgil standing there with a crying and terrified McKenzie in his arms. Randy got off of Cody, brushed the dirt off of his jeans. "Cody and I were just coming to an understanding in regards to Jenna. Isn't that right, Codes?" Randy snarled at him as he watched with pleasure as Cody rubbed his jaw. There was some blood dripping from his lip as well. Randy's job was done here.

"Orton, you get the hell on out of here before I call the police," Virgil warned in a loud voice as he tried to comfort his sobbing granddaughter.

"No worries, Virgil. I was just leaving," Randy growled as he made his way to his truck.

.

.

Less than an hour later, Randy locked the apartment door behind him and headed into the bedroom. Jenna was still out like a light. Smiling down at her pretty face illuminated by the moonlight, he stripped down to his boxer shorts and crawled into bed with her. He was too wound up from beating the piss out of her ex-husband to sleep. He started to lightly run his fingertips up and down her bare arm, causing her to shiver and frown in her sleep at the sensation. "Jenna," he whispered in her ear, moving a lock of hair out of the way. "Jenna…" he whispered again as he started to place light kisses on the skin behind her ear. She stirred in her sleep and after a few moments, her eyes opened and she smiled softly at Randy before she moved closer to him and snuggled up. Randy wanted more than to snuggle tonight.

Placing soft kisses along her jawline, she slowly started to wake up. When she was awake enough he crawled on top of her and went to work removing her nightgown. "Mmmm….what are you doing?" she whispered as she tilted her neck so he could get better access to the spot that turned her on the most. "Making love to my fiancé," he murmured in her ear. Lifting her nightgown off of her, he straddled her hips and looked down at her. "Simply perfect," he whispered before capturing her mouth in a sweet kiss.

As things started to heat up, he wanted to go ahead without protection, but she put a stop to him. No matter how hot and bothered she was right now, she still was grounded enough to remember to ask him to put a condom on. Grumbling a bit, he reached over for the nightstand drawer and pulled one out. He handed it to her and winked; with a small smile on her face, she put it on for him and then pulled him back down to her for a kiss while he entered her….

.

.

The next morning, Jenna woke up wrapped in Randy's arms. She tried to untangle herself but was met with a growl of protest from him. "I need to pee…." she whispered in his ear. "Too bad," he mumbled with a smirk. Rolling her eyes, he finally let go of her and headed into the bathroom.

Randy was awake and sitting up when she came back into the bedroom. She crawled back onto the bed and settled in between his legs, letting him wrap his strong tattooed arms around her once again. "When are we leaving today?" she asked as she leaned back and rested her head on his chest.

"This morning sometime. I was thinking, Jenna….let's go to Vegas…." he said slowly, trying to gauge her reaction.

"You promised Amanda a waterpark—" she started to say, not comprehending what he was really suggesting right now.

"We'll find a hotel with a waterpark there….I've got some time off and we should spend it wisely."

"Why Vegas? There's a waterpark in Atlanta," she replied, still not getting it.

"You're so pretty," he said with a smile, he was going to add, how can you be so pretty but not so bright, but he stopped himself before the words came out of his mouth. "Let's go to Vegas today, get married and then we can spend part of our honeymoon at the waterpark with Mandy. Then when we get back, your mom and dad can watch her while I take you somewhere special," he said as he started playing with her hair.

She turned to face him and straddled his lap, a look of complete disbelief on her face. "You want to get married today?" she asked.

He nodded. "Yeah….why wait?"

He was right. If she was going to marry him, why should they wait? Instead of answering him, she took his face in her hands and leaned down to kiss him on the mouth. "Sounds good to me," she whispered.


	60. Waiting Yet Again

**Chapter 60**

As the same time that Jenna was packing up their bags for the promised trip to the waterpark, Layla's flight was landing in Atlanta. It had been almost five months since she had seen McKenzie and she was starting to miss her. Cody had filed paperwork demanding that the courts terminate her parental rights to the toddler. Her lawyer drew up papers for joint custody; this was another reason why she was back in Atlanta for a few days. She couldn't let Cody take her little one away from her completely like he wanted to. Cody has no idea that his ex-girlfriend was flying in today. Surprise, Cody.

Cody and Virgil had just pulled up into the driveway of Cody's house when Layla pulled up to the curb in her rental car. She watched silently as Virgil got out of the car first and opened the back door to lift McKenzie out of her car seat. Her heart ached a little when she saw how much her baby had grown over the past few months. Her brown hair was almost down to her shoulders and her eyes were a big bright blue. She was a perfect mixture of her and Cody. Virgil set the little girl on the curb and Cody immediately came around the car and took his daughter's hand. Layla chose this moment to get out of the car and walk to the front to see if McKenzie would recognize her. McKenzie turned her head and a big smile broke out onto her cute little face. "Mama!" she screamed as she let go of Cody's hand and ran straight into Layla's arms for a big hug. Layla bent down and hugged her daughter tightly, "Oh, cupcake, I've missed you so much," she murmured into McKenzie's ear. Layla looked up and saw Cody standing in the exact same spot with a look of shock plastered to his handsome face. Was she really back? Why didn't she call me?

After the initial shock of seeing Layla after so long, Cody made his way over to them. "Layla…what are you doing here?" he managed to stutter out. Layla looked up from her daughter and took in Cody's handsome face; oh how she had missed this face.

"Oh, my God….Cody, what happened to your face," she said softly as she reached out to touch his bruised jawline.

"Nothing…"

"Well, something must have happened…."

"Randy Orton and I got into a scuffle," he said lamely, trying to ignore the questions that would soon come.

"Why would he do something like that?"

"I…really don't want to talk about it. What are you doing back in Atlanta?" he asked as he quickly changed the subject.

"I have some papers for you to sign," she said.

"Why didn't your lawyer just send them over?" he asked gruffly. After everything that had happened between him and Layla over the past year, he really didn't want to see her right now. His mind was still reeling from the fact that him and Jenna had gotten caught by Randy. He hadn't heard from her in a few days and he was beginning to wonder. When he called her cell phone a recorded message had come on saying that this number was no longer in service.

"Daddy! Mama's here!" McKenzie squealed with delight as she hugged her mother tightly around the legs.

"I see that, baby. Why don't we go inside…." Cody mumbled as he took McKenzie's hand and led her inside the house. Layla began to follow Cody but was stopped by an unhappy looking Virgil.

"Listen, woman. I don't know what your plans are right now, but my son has suffered enough lately. If you got papers for him to sign, let him sign them and then take off."

Layla let out a dry chuckle. "Oh, Virgil. I'm not going anywhere," she said with a sneer as she pushed past the large man and headed into the house.

"Damn woman," Virgil mumbled to himself as he started to walk towards the house himself. He hoped that Cody was smart enough to stay away from this devil woman.

.

.

Jenna called her mother before they were supposed to leave for their trip. "Hi, mom, I was just calling to let you know that we're going to be out of town for a few days; and my cell phone isn't working right now. I didn't want you to worry about us," Jenna said as she tried to keep her tone upbeat. It had been a rough couple of days for her and Alice knew this.

"I see. And where are you three headed off to now? On the road with Randy?" Alice liked Randy. He had proven that he did indeed care deeply for her only daughter and Alice was hoping that Jenna was really serious about making the commitment to him that she had promised.

"Actually….no. Randy promised Mandy a trip to the waterpark." Jenna paused before she told her mom the rest of the plans that her and Randy had made late last night. "We're actually going to the Las Vegas, and we're going to stop at one of those wedding chapels and go ahead and get married." She held her breath and waited for her mother to start in on her.

Alice was silent for a few seconds. Did she just hear Jenna correctly? "I'm sorry, Jenna Kay….did you just tell me that you and Randy are planning on getting married in Las Vegas tonight?"

"Yes, mom. We decided not to wait any longer. I'm not even sure what we were really waiting for—" Alice cut her off.

"How about the fact that maybe your father and I would have liked to be there? Did that thought cross your mind, Jenna Kay? This is also Randy's first marriage; didn't you two think that maybe his family would have liked to be there as well? I don't think you two thought this through very well at all…."

"Well, I guess so…." Jenna started to say, unsure now if they should actually go through with their plans to fly out to Las Vegas tonight. "Mom, I'm going to call you back in a few minutes; I think you're right. I don't think we thought this out very well."

"I'm glad to hear that, Jenna Kay. Why don't you go and talk to Randy and then call me back? We should probably get together and start making some plans."

"All right…."

.

.

"Randy?" Jenna called from the bedroom. A few minutes went by before he came into the room; he and Mandy had been playing with her dolls in the living room.

"Yeah?" he asked as he came into the bedroom and immediately frowned at his fiancé. She still wasn't packed? "Why aren't you ready to go? We need to leave soon."

"I think we should wait," she began softly.

"What?" he growled at her. "Why now?" he said gruffly as he sat down on the bed beside her.

"My mom and dad want to be there when we get married. And she asked about your family? Don't they want to be there as well?"

Randy let out a big sigh; she wasn't calling it off, she wanted the families to be there. He leaned over and kissed her gently. "Whatever you want to do, Jen. But it has to be soon. I've been waiting so long to be able to call you mine." Another gently kiss. "So….call your mama back and plan something. All right?"

Jenna blushed and smiled softly. "You're too good to be true," she whispered as she leaned her head on his broad shoulder.

.

.

Two days later, Randy, Jenna and Mandy were back from their waterpark adventure. Jenna was at home writing an article for a local magazine when Randy decided to head down to the realtor's office and see if she had anything for them. He was tired of living in that small apartment. There was absolutely no reason for them not to have a house of their own while Jenna and her mother made wedding plans. If everything went according to schedule, they should be in their new house within two weeks. Randy had just walked out of the office when he ran into an unexpected acquaintance.

"Layla. What are you doing back in Atlanta?" he asked, curious as to why she was actually in town. He hadn't heard from her since she told him that she had left Cody. Randy was actually glad to see her back; with her back in the picture, Cody's attention would switch from Jenna back to Layla.

A big smile broke out onto her face. "I came back to see McKenzie. I missed her so much."

"I see. How long have you been back and are you planning on staying?"

"Been back about two days and I'm not sure how much longer I'm staying."

"Why not? Isn't Cody glad your back?"

Layla shook her head. "Actually, um he isn't too happy to see me at all…."

"Are you trying to get back together with him?" Randy asked, fearful that without Layla around to distract Cody, he might not give up on her, even though Randy beat the piss out of him the other night.

"I don't think so….He's still in love with Jenna," she said sadly. "We had this big argument this morning and I accidentally let it slip about how….me and you kinda pushed them two apart," she said with her eyes full of fear that Randy was going to start yelling at her. "Cody knows. I'm sorry, Randy," she said quickly as she started back down the sidewalk, scared to look back and see Randy glaring at her with those cold steel blue eyes.

Son of a bitch.


	61. The Truth Hurts

**Chapter 61**

_Earlier that morning…_

Layla watched with a smile on her face as McKenzie pushed her doll around in a baby stroller. Her little girl was growing up so fast. She could tell that Cody was staring at her from his spot across the room, probably wondering why she was here now. Last night after she had tucked McKenzie into bed, she left and stayed in her hotel room; she had planned on talking to him this morning about the option of filing for joint custody of their daughter. "Why are you staring at me?" she finally blurted out, tired of the uneasy feeling he was giving her right now.

"I…I just can't believe you're here," he mumbled. "Why didn't you just have your lawyer send the papers in the mail to my lawyer?"

"Because I wanted to see my daughter," she replied in a snotty tone as she rolled her eyes and continued watching McKenzie "tuck" her dolls in for a nap. "I have every right to see her, Cody."

"I know that, and I've never denied you of that. But the fact is that over the past few months, you've made no effort whatsoever to come and see her. Hell, you barely even call her! What changed? Why do you want to see her now?"

"I've done a lot of thinking and I don't want to miss out on anything more in her life that I already have, Cody. That's why," she said as she bent down to take the proposed joint custody papers out of her bag, "my lawyer helped me draft up some papers that will give us both custody of McKenzie." She held the papers out for Cody to take. Very slowly he got up from his chair and took them out of her hand, skimming the documents as he made his way back to his chair.

"Oh, hell no, Layla! You abandoned your kid; there is no way in hell that I am giving you joint custody," he said gruffly as he stared his ex-girlfriend down. "No way in hell. What kind of mother just up and leaves her kid in the middle of the night, makes no effort to come and see her, and then just shows up one day out of the blue and says she wants her back?" he asked as he started to raise his voice.

"Keep your voice down, Cody, you're scaring McKenzie—"

"You know what scared her, Layla? The fact that one day her mother decided that she was tired of being a mom and just up and left her with virtually no explanation. That's what scared her!"

"Stop it, Cody. I didn't come here to fight with you. I came here to talk to you like an adult—"

"No, I'm not going to stop. Answer me, Layla. What kind of 'mother' does that to her baby? 

She had heard enough; she knew what he was getting at. It was the same thing over and over again; he was comparing her to Jenna. He might not come right out and say it, but she knew that was what he was doing. "Let me guess, Cody. Jenna never would have done that, would she? Jenna was the perfect mother and gave up her career—"

"This isn't about Jenna!" he shouted, a look of anger crossing his face as he stood up. "McKenzie, sweetie, can you go play in your room? Mommy and Daddy need to talk….." The little girl stood up, her big blue eyes full of fear and scurried out of her room.

"It's always about Jenna, Cody! It always has and it always will be! No one will ever be able to measure up to her. She's fucking perfect!" she screamed at him as soon as the kid was out of the room.

"That's not true at all—" was all he got out before she cut him off.

She laughed, "It is true. No one is ever going to be as good as she was. I knew this was a mistake. I should have just left you alone…." she trailed off as she stood up and started pacing around the living room. "I should have never listened to Randy….I wouldn't be in this mess if I had just not even…." she mumbled to herself. Unfortunately for Layla, Cody heard her say Randy's name. He grabbed her by her arm as she passed by him.

"What does Randy have to do with this?" he asked softly. She shook her head, realizing that she had actually said that out loud.

"Nothing," she said quickly as she tried to move away from him, but he had a good grip on her arm.

"What did Randy have to do with this?" he demanded.

Tears filled her eyes; should she tell him? It didn't really matter to her anymore; she didn't want Cody anymore. She was never going to measure up to Jenna and she was tired of trying to do just that. All she wanted was the right to see her daughter. "Nothing…." she mumbled again.

"Damn it, Layla! You brought it up! Now tell me, what the fuck does Randy have to do with anything?" he asked, his blue eyes flashing with annoyance and anger.

She bit her bottom lip. What the hell? She had nothing to lose anymore; her lawyer could fix it so she gets at least joint custody for McKenzie. "Randy broke you and Jenna up," she blurted out and waited for him to slap her or to start screaming.

"I don't understand…." he said softly. "Explain," he demanded in a hushed voice as he sat down. "How did he break us up?"

"He talked me into tricking you into sleeping with me without a condom…." she admitted as she watched him process what she was telling him. "He said that if you got me pregnant, that Jenna would flip out and divorce you. And then he could have her for himself, and I would have you back…."

A few minutes of silence went by before Cody took a deep breath. "You planned this? You did this on purpose? You knew how much I loved Jenna and Mandy….and you conspired with Randy to break up my family on purpose?"

She nodded as she started to feel bad for blurting out the truth like this; she never meant to hurt him with her lies, she had just loved him so much. And he had loved her too before Jenna came back into the picture.

"You fucking bitch…." he mumbled. "Get the fuck out!" he shouted as he suddenly stood up and glared at her. "You ruined my life. I loved Jenna, I still love her, but you and that snake Randy….I can't fucking believe you. I trusted you, Layla! I trusted you when you said that you loved me and that all you ever wanted to do was to make me happy and that Jenna was too wrapped up in herself to care about me! You realize that she's going to marry that asshole, don't you? If she does that, then I lose her forever!" he kept shouting at her, taking a step closer to her with every sentence. He was just about in front of her and thought about reaching out to slap her across the face when a little voice came into the room.

"Daddy, are you mad at mama?" Cody spun around and saw his youngest daughter standing there, her security blanket in her chubby little hand and her big blue eyes full of tears. What the hell was he doing? Layla was not worth this. "Layla, get out. Say good-bye to McKenzie and just leave. I don't ever want to see you again; I won't keep you from McKenzie, but I don't want a damn thing to ever do with you again. Our lawyers can figure out the custody."

She nodded and she picked up her bag and walked over to the near tears toddler. "Good-bye, cupcake. Mommy has to go now. But she'll see you real soon, ok?" she mumbled to the little one as she held her close. "Be good for daddy and grandpa…."

Layla let go of her daughter and walked quickly out of the room and out the front door, not daring to look back; because if she did, she would have seen the toddler start to cry for her mother. McKenzie ran over to Cody and clung to his legs. The only thing keeping him from going off into a rage and destroying the living room was this innocent little girl holding onto him. He had to get Jenna back; he had to tell her that there had been a plot against them being together from the beginning. The only problem was, not that Randy had been whispering into her ear for so long, would she believe him?


	62. Remember When

**Chapter 62**

After Layla left, Cody calmed himself down and called his dad. "Dad, I need you to do me a favor," he said nervously.

"Sure, son. What can I do for you?" he dad asked gently. Virgil was concerned about his youngest son; that devil woman Layla had come back and nothing good come out of that. Plus, he knew Cody was still hurting, physically and emotionally, from his fight with Randy over the lovely Jenna. His son was still in love with that girl. He had hoped that the two of them would eventually find their way back to each other.

"Can you and mom watch McKenzie for a couple of hours today? I need to go see Jenna—"

"Son, you know as well as I do that going to see the lovely Jenna is not a good idea. I would have thought that after Randy had pretty much beat the piss out of you the other night, that you would understand that. It might be time to let go…"

"Dad, I can't do that. We're supposed to be together. Layla just left here and she admitted that her and Randy had hatched some crazy plan to break us up!"

"What are you talking about? You sound a crazy man, son."

"Layla just told me that she and Randy had worked out a plan to break us up. She got pregnant on purpose so Jenna would leave me, and then it was Randy's plan all along to swoop in and try to hook up with her."

A few seconds of silence went by before Virgil mumbled, "Son of a bitch. Boy, you bring that little darling over here and then you go and talk to Jenna before she makes a mistake and actually marries that snake. I had heard around town that Jim Andrews was bragging about how his daughter was getting married in a few weeks and that Jenna and her mama were working on wedding plans."

"Damn it. I'll be there in a few minutes. Thanks dad."

.

.

Cody dropped a sad McKenzie off at her grandparents' house and then he headed across town to the apartment that Jenna and Randy were renting together. With any luck, Randy would have already headed back on the road and he could have a chance to talk to Jenna alone and tell her that Layla and Randy had purposely tried to break them up. She had to give him another chance. "She still loves me. I know she does," he mumbled to himself as he back out of his dad's driveway and headed to town.

To try and break up the silence, he turned on the radio and flipped channels until a soft song came on the radio. The lyrics felt like they were speaking right to him about Jenna. "She still loves me, we can make this work," he mumbled to himself again as he listened to the lyrics.

_**Remember when I was young so were you time stood still love was all we knew You were the first, so was I made love and then you cried Remember when**_

_**Remember when we vowed the vows walked the walk Gave our hearts, made the start, it was hard lived and learned, life threw curves There was joy, there was hurt Remember when**_

A few minutes later, Cody pulled up to the apartment building and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw Jenna's car in the parking lot, but not Randy's truck. This mean he had at least a chance of her listening to him without having to worry about Randy throwing him out. He just hoped that Jenna herself wouldn't throw him out. Cody knew he had made a lot of mistakes and that he didn't deserve Jenna's forgiveness. But he also knew that he and Jenna were destined to be together. They wouldn't have tried so hard to get back together the first time if they hadn't been meant to be.

Parking his car, he got out and ran towards the front door of the building. He ran up the stairs and walked over to her door. Reminding himself to breathe, he tentatively knocked on the door and waited. He tried to calm his racing heart, but he knew it was no use; this was the moment he had been waiting for. He was going to put it all on the table for Jenna—the truth, his heart, his undying love for her. She had to take him back.

_**Remember when old ones died new were born life was changed, disassembled, rearranged We came together, fell apart broke each other's hearts Remember when**_

Seconds later, the door opened and there stood Jenna with a sleeping Mandy in her arms. The look of surprise in her dark brown eyes made him feel weak in the knees. "Hey," he whispered.

"Hey," she whispered back. "What are you doing here?" she asked. "And what happened to your face?" she asked, gesturing to the nice bruise that he still had along his jawline from when Randy had sucker punched him.

"Randy," was all he said.

She sighed and moved aside so he could come in; Randy had left for the gym and she didn't expect him back for a couple of hours. She knew what she was doing right now was wrong; Cody was **not** supposed to be here. Randy had made her promise that she wouldn't see him anymore, even if they were picking up or dropping off Mandy. They were trying to work out arrangements for Alice or Virgil to pick up the little girl for her time with Cody. "You know you're not supposed to be here," she said quietly as he closed the door behind him.

"I know. But I had to see you…." he said quietly as he watched Jenna swayed back and forth with Mandy in her arms. She looked so beautiful, he thought to himself. Motherhood had been so good to her. It felt like he was falling in love with her all over again.

_**Remember when the sound of little feet was the music We danced to week to week Brought back the love, we found trust Vowed we'd never give it up Remember when**_

"I'm going to lay her down in her room and then we can talk," she said softly as she walked down the short hallway and then returned a few minutes later. While she was gone, Cody took this opportunity to look around the living room. He smiled softly at all of the framed picture collages of Amanda; she was such a pretty little girl. His smile faded when his eyes fell on a framed picture of Jenna and Randy kissing on the porch swing on her mom's front porch. He felt a sharp pain in his chest when he thought about all of the kissing and whispering him and Jenna used to do on that same porch swing.

"When did Randy do that to your face? Have you been putting ice on it?" a voice came from the other side of the room. Cody's moved towards the sound of her voice and felt his heart skip a beat. She looked so beautiful; she wasn't wearing anything special, just an old pair of jeans and a U of M t-shirt. She still his breath away though.

"The other day…Listen, I didn't come here to whine about Randy sucker punching me—"

"Then why did you come here?" she asked softly as she took a seat at the small kitchen table. "You know we're not supposed to see each other anymore. I'm getting married, Cody. To someone else. I…..I moved on," she stammered softly, avoiding his eyes. She knew if she looked at him right now, all plans of marrying Randy and moving on with her life would fly right out the window. Was it right to marry someone else if she was still head over heels in love with Cody? Probably not, but Randy had been right—it was time to move on.

"Layla came back."

She rolled her eyes. "And why do I care?" she said sarcastically.

"Because she told me the truth."

"And what was that?"

"They planned this," he began as he sat down in a chair across from her, waiting to see how much he should tell her right now. He didn't want her to freak out, but at the same time, he knew he had to be quick in case Randy came back.

"Who planned what? Cody, you're not making any sense," she said in a frustrated tone. "Whatever you have to tell me, just tell me. There's no sense in beating around the bush—"

He cut her off. "Layla and Randy had a plan to break us up. They did this on purpose, Jen. Layla got herself pregnant on purpose knowing that you would demand a divorce and then the plan was for Randy to swoop in and comfort you. Honey, they planned this—"

"What the fuck are you talking about?" she said as she stood up suddenly, her dark eyes flashing with irritation. "Are you telling me that Randy, my fiancé, my rock for the past two years planned this? He actually came up with a plan with that bimbo Layla to break us up?" she demanded.

Cody nodded. "Layla admitted it to me this morning. Jenna, I never wanted to break up with you….." he said softly, treading lightly because he wasn't sure if she was pissed at him or if she was about to break down sobbing.

"I don't believe you," she stated simply. "I don't believe that Randy would do that to me. He loves me, Cody. We're getting married. You're just coming off desperate trying to figure out ways to get me away from him—"

"Jenna, I'm not lying to you. Layla told me this morning. They had this planned for at least three years now. We were never supposed to break up, honey. It was supposed to be **me and you**. But then, I don't, I fucked up. I gave into Layla and Randy magically appeared and 'saved' you. Honey, they planned this. Those two have been fucking with our emotions, our marriage, our kid, and our lives, just to satisfy themselves. You have to believe me," he said as the words rushed out of his mouth. He waited. He waited for her to either point to the door and tell him to get the hell out, or he waited for her to sit back down and cry and believe him.

_**Remember when thirty seemed so old Now lookin' back, it's just a steppin' stone To where we are, where we've been Said we'd do it all again Remember when**_

_**Remember when we said when we turned gray When the children grow up and move away We won't be sad, we'll be glad For all the life we've had And we'll remember when**_

"How can I believe you?" she whispered as she sat back down and looked up at him. "How do I know you're telling me the truth?"

"I…" he started to say before the door opened and Randy came inside the apartment. He dropped his keys on the side table and dropped his gym bag on the floor before he looked up and noticed that he and Jenna had company. "What the fuck are you doing here, Runnels?" he growled as he took a step towards his fiancé and her ex-husband sitting at the table together. "I thought I had made it clear the other night—" Jenna interrupted him.

"Cody just stopped by to let me in on a little secret, Randy," she said softly as she stood up and glared at him; her brown eyes flashing with anger. "Have you talked to Layla today?" she asked sweetly.

Randy's eyes left her pretty face and darted over to Cody's. 'Fuck,' he thought to himself. Layla was telling the truth; she had let their little 'deal' slip to Cody. How was he going to try and convince Jenna that Layla was lying?

"She's lying, baby. So is he; what he's telling you is bullshit," he said calmly.

"Did you do it, Randy? Have you been lying to me for the past two years?" she asked calmly.

What the hell was he going to do now? Did he tell her the truth and hope that she still loved him enough to go ahead and still marry him? Or did he lie to her and try to put this all on Cody? He caught the way that Cody was looking at her right now. Like a man in love. He also looked like a man who wasn't going to be giving up anytime soon…..


	63. It's Not Nice To Fight

**Chapter 63**

"Randy. Answer me," Jenna said softly. "Did you plan for me and Cody to break up?" she asked again, her eyes starting to fill up with tears. For the sake of her and Randy's relationship, she hoped that Cody was just being petty and was lying to her.

"Baby, you need to let me explain," Randy said quickly to her as he shot a death glare at Cody.

"Jenna, I'm telling the truth. Layla just admitted it to me this morning. Those two planned this from the beginning—" Cody began to say.

"Shut your fucking mouth, Runnels. This is between me and Jenna," Randy growled at him.

"You know what, Randy? I've had just about enough of you," Cody said quietly as he shoved the chair aside and came around the table. Standing toe to toe with Randy, Cody dared him to try and take another cheap shot at him again. "You've lied to Jenna for three years now. You and Layla came up with some sick plan to break up a marriage. You tried turning my own kid against me-"

"Did you know that Mandy calls me daddy every now and then?" Randy asked with a smirk. The smirk didn't last long because Cody pulled his arm back and punched him straight in the jaw, knocking him down to the ground. Jenna screamed and tried to pull Cody off of her fiancé.

"Cody, stop it!" she screamed as she finally got him off of Randy. Jenna shouldn't have done that, because the second that Cody was off of him, Randy speared him in the side and knocked him down to the ground again, breaking a kitchen chair in the process. Jenna watched helplessly as her fiancé and ex-husband beat the shit out of each other in her living room; it brought back memories of the last time these two fought over her in her living room…..

_Flashback_

_"Those papers don't matter, Jenna, and you should know that. He hasn't been your husband for a very long time. You need a real man, a man who is going to chase after you if you leave in the middle of the night. A man who isn't afraid that you're going to hurt him. A man who isn't going to lie to you and sleep with someone. A man like...hmmmm...me," he said softly, he had moved closer with every sentence and was now leaning against her, trying to shift his weight so her back would be laying down. He was just about to kiss her when the doorbell rang. She silently thanked whoever was ringing the doorbell for interrupting this moment. She pushed Randy off of her and walked over to the door, smoothing out her skirt._

_She opened the door and got the shock of her life. Her husband was standing there, his blue eyes burning with anger. "Cody, what are you doing here?"_

_"Something I should have done a long time ago, Jenna," he said as he grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her closer to him and placing his mouth on hers. The kiss was like nothing she had ever felt from him before, full of passion and silently saying things that he couldn't bring himself to say out loud. The kiss said, "I'm sorry, baby, please forgive me." The kiss intensified as Cody noticed someone walking up behind Jenna. Cody broke the kiss, gently pushed Jenna aside. "I told you to stay away from my wife, Randy..."_

_Cody stepped into the room, while Jenna watched helplessly as her husband and Cody slowly circled each other; each man's eyes burning with contempt for each other. "Cody...stop," Jenna said quietly. Cody looked over at her to respond, it was that split second that Cody looked away that Randy saw his opportunity and struck, knocking Cody to the ground while Jenna screamed. The men wrestled with each other on the floor for a few seconds before Randy got to this feet first and pulled Cody up by his shirt. Randy's arm went back and his fist connected with Cody's chin, knocking him backwards and landing on Jenna's kitchen table. Jenna screamed again as she rushed forward to see if Cody was ok._

_Randy grabbed her arm before she could get to Cody. "Jenna. Stop. You need to think about what you're doing. You and I both know that you don't want to be with him anymore. You need a man who isn't going to lie to you and-" Jenna cut him off by slapping him across the face as hard as she could. Leaving Randy to rub his stinging face, she went over to Cody who was laying amidst the broken table with blood running down his forehead._

_"Oh, my God, Cody are you ok?" He nodded as she helped him back up._

_Cody nodded as he pushed Jenna away and charged at Randy, knocking the larger man backwards and onto Jenna's coffee table, breaking it in the process. Jenna screamed again as she watched the two men wrestle each other again. She didn't know what to do; Ted was usually with Cody, where was he tonight? She found her phone as she watched the two men throw punches at each other and destroy her living room. She dialed Ted's number. "Where are you?" she said quickly when he picked up._

_"In the parking lot, waiting for Cody, why?"_

_"Get in here. Now." She hung up and went into the living room, trying to pull Cody off of Randy. Randy pulled his arm back was going to take a swing at Cody, when suddenly Cody was moved out of the way and Jenna was in his place. Randy couldn't stop his fist from flying once he had moved it forward. He had hit Jenna in the face instead of Cody. She let out of a scream of pain as she fell to the ground._

_Cody watched his wife fall to the ground in pain and tears started falling down her face. Cody saw red. He charged at Randy, his shoulder nailing Randy in the stomach, sending him to the ground again. Ted had shown up just in time to see Jenna on the floor, crying and holding her cheek, Randy laying on the floor with Cody on top of him, punching him in the face. Ted ran over and pulled Cody off of Randy and pointed at Jenna. Cody's face turned white as he realized that his wife was hurt. Ted pulled Randy up by his shirt and yelled, "What the hell are you doing, Randy?"_

_"You want some of me too, Teddy?" Randy shouted back, pushing Ted, daring him to take a swing at him. Ted's jaw clenched as he tried to restrain himself. More than anything, he wanted to beat the living hell out of Randy for everything he had done to Cody lately. He looked over at Cody and Jenna. She was sitting in a kitchen chair, while he was stroking her cheek and speaking softly to her. "You better get some ice on that, Cody," he said while giving Randy once last glare before walking over to see if she was ok._

_Randy walked over to Jenna, Cody immediately stood up, blocking his view from her. "Jenna, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hit you. It was an accident; I was aiming for Cody," Randy said softly. Jenna looked up at him with her big brown eyes full of tears and just nodded, acknowledging that he didn't mean to hit her. "I think you should go, Randy..." she whispered. Normally Randy wouldn't leave until he was ready, but the tension in the room told him that maybe it was best to just let this one go tonight. He would call her later in the weekend and try to see her again. He nodded and grabbed car keys off of the table and walked out the door, brushing his shoulder against Ted as he walked out and shut the door behind him._

_End of Flashback_

_._

_._

A little voice screamed and the three adults stopped and turned to look at a tear stained Amanda standing in the hallway. Jenna immediately rushed over to her daughter and scooped her up. "Mama, why is Randy hurting daddy like that?" she cried into her mom's shoulder.

"Shhhhh….it's all right, pumpkin….." Jenna tried to soothe the little girl.

"It's not ok, mama. Randy shouldn't be hitting daddy like that! I love him!" she said loudly as she lifted her head from Jenna's shoulder and looked at her father and soon-to-be stepfather. "Stop fighting! It's not nice to hurt each other!" she scolded.

Cody got off of the floor and walked towards Amanda. "It's ok, honey, we're all done fighting…." he said softly as Mandy nodded. "Why are you and Randy fighting? It's not nice….." she pouted.

"I know it's not, honey…." Cody said softly as he glared at Randy for making a scene in front of his daughter.

"Daddy was just leaving, Mandy. Weren't you, Cody?" Randy growled as he came over to the three of them.

Cody looked at Jenna. "Do you want me to leave, Jen?" he asked.

Jenna shrugged her shoulders and started crying again. "I think I want both of you to leave," she mumbled. "Come on, Mandy. Let's go lay down in mama's bed," she said quietly to her daughter as she picked her up and carried her into the back bedroom, leaving Randy and Cody to glare at each other.

.

.

Randy watched his fiancé leave the room. He turned to Cody, "Outside. Now," he said gruffly as he grabbed Cody by the arm and dragged him out of the apartment and down the stairs to the parking lot. When they were outside, Randy pushed Cody up against his truck. "You son of a bitch. You just had to open your big fucking mouth…."

"What you and Layla did was wrong, Randy. You two broke up a marriage—"

"It wasn't too much of a marriage if you were sleeping around on your wife, Cody."

"You don't understand, Randy—"

"No, Cody. I don't understand. I don't understand how a man who had it all—a beautiful wife, a perfect daughter, a nice house and the start of great fucking career could fuck it all up just for a piece of ass like Layla. I did you a favor, Runnels. I made the decision to end your marriage to Jenna for you. She deserves more than a lying asshole like you."

"I made a mistake and I apologized a million times to her and I swore it would never happen again. Jenna deserves someone who loves her for who she is; someone who understands her and has been in love with her almost their entire life. What she doesn't deserve is someone who plots and lies to get what they want from her," Cody shot back as he pushed Randy away from him and started towards his car. "You fucked up, Randy. You fucked up from the beginning and now you're going to have to pay for breaking her trust," he said before he got into his car and drove away.

.

.

Randy watched Cody drive away and went back upstairs to the apartment. He walked down the hallway to their bedroom and watched for a minute or two while Jenna and Mandy lay in the bed, holding each other. He could tell that they both had been crying. How could he have been such an asshole? "Jenna," he began, but she stopped him before he could get another word out.

"Stop. I can't, I won't talk about this right now. Not with Mandy here. You have a **lot** of explaining to do, Randy," she said weakly.

He nodded. "I know. But if you would just let me explain—"

"No. Not right now. I think the best thing for right now, is for me and Mandy to leave," she said quietly as she motioned for Mandy to get off the bed. "Pumpkin, go to your room and fill up your Tinkerbell suitcase with some clothes. We're going to go stay at Nana's for a while…." Mandy nodded; she wished she understood what was going on right now. Usually she would be so excited to go spend the night at Nana's house, but something didn't feel right. Why were daddy and Randy fighting like that? Why was mama crying? Why did daddy leave? Maybe Nana would know.

Randy watched the little one leave the room. "Jen, please don't leave. We need to talk—"

"No. Not right now, I don't know how many times I need to say that, Randy. I'm so confused. I don't know what's going on and I need some time to figure it out. Cody showed up here today saying that you have been lying to me, and that you conspired with Layla to break me and him up? Why would he say that?"

"He's lying, Jen—"

"How could he possibly come up with a lie like that Randy?" she shot back before she broke her gaze from his face. "I'm going to stay at my mom's tonight. I need some time to think…."

"Jenna, please stay…" Randy said quietly. He never begged, but he was getting pretty close to doing that right now; anything to make her not leave him.

"We'll talk later," was all she said before she left the room and took Mandy with her for the drive down to Marietta, leaving Randy alone in their empty apartment.

"Fuck!' he screamed as soon as the front door shut. He punched a hole in the wall as he watched her cry drive away. This time she didn't look back.


	64. Midnight Confessions

Chapter 64

Jenna spent the next two days at her mother's house with her cell phone turned off. Alice told little white lies to both Randy and Cody when they both called for her. Jim answered the door and told them both that Jenna was not seeing visitors and that they should leave. He was a little bit more firm with Cody than he was with Randy. He had never really cared for the Runnels boy; this wasn't the first time that he had made his princess cry like this. As for Randy….Jim wasn't sure what to think about his daughter's fiancé. At times he seemed very caring and anxious to marry Jenna. But then there are times like this, when Jenna is locked up in her childhood bedroom, crying her pretty brown eyes out because of something he had said.

Jim went into the living room and sat down on the sofa next to Alice. He smiled as he watched his only grandchild play with her dolls happily while her mother hid away upstairs. "Have you gotten the entire story out of her yet," Jim asked softly as he turned to Alice.

"Bits and pieces but I'm sure not all of it yet. It seems that Cody showed up that morning saying that Randy had been lying to her since before they even started dating and something about Layla and Randy had planned on breaking them up from the beginning."

"That doesn't sound like Randy," Jim mused. "He's always come off as someone who seemed smitten with our princess."

"Maybe someone who is too smitten?" Alice asked carefully, remembering the smooth words that Randy had said to Jenna to stop their last pending break-up.

"Our daughter is a beautiful young lady; she has a lot to offer…..What if Runnels is only saying these things to Jenna because he's jealous? That's always a possibility."

Alice nodded. "Jenna Kay still loves him, Jim. Even you must be able to see the torch she carries for that boy—"

"That's the thing, Alice. They're not 'kids' anymore. Whatever high school romance her and Runnels had should have ended there—high school. She should have never ran off and married him in the middle of the night. She did the right thing by leaving him after only living together for a few months. But she should have just stayed away from him instead of agreeing to stay married to him—" 

"Jim Andrews!" Alice scolded. "If they hadn't gotten back together, we wouldn't have little Amanda here," she said in a hushed tone as she watched with a loving gaze at her granddaughter play on the floor, completely oblivious to their conversation.

Jim sighed, "That's not what I meant at all. I just think that their 'true forever love' that they thought that they has high school has run its course. She needs to move on. Randy is willing to marry her and take care of our little Amanda. There aren't many men out there that will do that, Alice," he said in a gentle, but firm, tone. "She should just ignore whatever lies Cody is trying tell her now and believe Randy."

A few seconds of silence went by. "But what if you're wrong, Jim? What if this is just a test to see how strong Jenna's love is for Cody? What if she can't let go of him?" Alice asked, breaking the silence.

"We told Jenna a long time ago that life wasn't fair. This is just another one of those life lessons, dear."

.

.

Jenna stared at the ceiling of her childhood bedroom. What was she going to do? Should she believe Cody? Could she believe Randy? Why was this so hard? All she ever wanted to do was love Cody with everything that she had, and then he broke their marriage vows. Randy was there to pick up the pieces and to help her move on; the question was if he had planned this from the beginning? Could he really be so cold and calculating to try and break up a marriage just to get what he wanted?

These questions and more were swimming around in her head, and unfortunately, no answers were coming to her about what to do. She swung her legs over the side of the bed and laid her head in her hands. Her tears had dried a long time ago and she was beginning to feel void of any feelings accept confusion.

A soft noise on her window broke her from her thoughts. What now, she thought to herself as she went to the window. She looked down in disbelief. He had done it again. Cody had come to her window in the middle of the night. She opened the window and stuck her head out. "What are you doing here?" she whispered loudly.

"I need to see you, Jen. You have to believe me…" he called back.

She shook her head. "I don't know…." she started to say.

"Climb down and talk to me. Please?" he pleaded softly. She sighed and shut the window. She was not climbing out the window again like some love-sick teenager; she was an adult. She would use the front door. Walking softly down the stairs, she paused by her parents' bedroom—they were fast asleep. She stopped by the guest bedroom that Amanda was sleeping in; thankfully her little angel was out.

Cody was waiting by the tree under her bedroom when she stepped out onto the front porch. "What are you doing here?"

He rushed over. "Jenna, I had to see you. But your cell is off and your dad ran me out of here earlier." He tentatively reached a hand out to touch her shoulder. "We need to talk. Jenna, you need to believe me. Randy and Layla planned this from the beginning…."

"I want to believe you, Cody, I really do. But that still doesn't change the fact that you cheated on me," she whispered as she shrugged his hand off of her arm.

"Jen, I've apologized-"

"I know you have. But it still doesn't change the fact that you thought so little of me that you would sleep with another woman. And you continued to do it after we renewed our vows in front of our family and friends. But wait, there's more. Then you got her pregnant! Do you know of how much of a fool I felt like having to explain to everyone why we suddenly had to get divorced? Any idea, Cody?" she near shouted the last sentence at him.

"You still love me. You've told me that you do," he said as he took a step closer to her. Reaching out and resting a hand on her hip. "You told me that you couldn't stop loving me…..I still love you too…..We're supposed to be together. You know we are; we just hit…a little bump in the road. Please, Jen, believe me. I only want to love you," he whispered with the air of man who was desperate to keep the woman that he loved.

"I…I…" the words wouldn't come out of her mouth the way she wanted them to.

"Jenna Kay? It is after midnight. What on earth are you doing outside at this time of night?" a voice called from the front porch. Cody and Jenna turned to see Alice standing on the porch. She looked behind her once before starting towards the couple. "Cody Runnels. What are you doing here? Didn't Jim tell you that Jenna needed some time to herself?"

Cody nodded. "Yes, ma'am. But I had to see her…..I can't….I can't lose her…" he stuttered.

"Cody. Look at Jenna and tell her that."

Cody turned to look at his ex-wife. "Jenna, I am so sorry for everything that happened between us. But you have to believe me. Randy went about trying to get together with you the wrong way; he planned this. If he hadn't talked Layla into—"

"Enough. I don't want to hear anymore," Jenna said as she covered her ears with her hands and started to walk back towards the front porch. "I need some more time to think. I love you, Cody. I've always loved you, and I doubt I'll ever stop. But I can't….I can't let you hurt me anymore…." was all she said before she opened the screen door and went inside.

"I do love her," Cody whispered to Alice while they watched Jenna go inside the house. "I messed up. But I love her….It's supposed to be me and her—Cody and Jenna. I can't lose her…"

Alice looked at Cody for a few seconds; he suddenly looked like the love-sick boy in high school that would wait nervously in her kitchen while Jenna finished getting ready for their dates. "Give her some time," was all she said before she went back into the house. After seeing that look on his face, she had to agree with Virgil. She hoped those two kids eventually found their way back to each other.


	65. Everyone Has An Opinion

Chapter 65

After almost a week of hiding out at her mom and dad's house, Jenna was finally ready to get her life back in order. During this week of 'alone time', Cody showed up at Jim and Alice's front door every day, hoping that his ex-wife would talk to him. Randy was back on the road and was only able to call for her a few times a day. Neither man was having much success in getting the lovely Jenna to speak to him. It wasn't like Jenna was ready to talk anyways. She still wasn't sure who to believe—Cody had broken her trust so many times before, but she couldn't stop loving him; they had shared so much life together. On the other hand, was Cody telling the truth about Randy? Could he really have been that cold and calculating and planned to help push along the demise of her and Cody's marriage just to get what he wanted?

Jenna was standing by the sink washing dishes with her mother when there was a knock on the front door. The two women looked at each other, wondering who could be visiting so early in the morning. Little footsteps started rushing to the front door; Amanda was determined to answer the door before her Nana or Gpa did. She struggled opening the door until Jim came along and helped her. Mandy squealed with delight at the sight of their visitor; Jim attempted to smile and greet the young man standing on the front porch. "Daddy!" Mandy trilled as she threw herself into her father's arms.

"Hey, pumpkin…" he mumbled as he hugged his oldest tight to him. "Are you having fun with Nana?" he asked. "Where's mommy?" he asked as he set the little girl down and she grabbed his hand and dragged him inside the house.

"She's washing dishes with Nana!" she said just as Jenna came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on a dish towel.

"Hey," she said softly as she caught her father's eye; Jim was obviously not impressed that his former son-in-law was here right now. "What brings you by?" she managed to stutter out.

"I…." he started to say before he realized Jim was still standing close by, arms crossed against his chest, glaring at the young man.

"You've said enough, Cody. I think you should leave. Jenna Kay is an engaged woman and there is nothing for either of you to say to each other," Jim said gruffly. Alice chose this moment to come out of the kitchen.

"Jim…." she warned.

"No, Alice. I've held my tongue long enough about these two. It's time that I speak my piece," he said to his wife before he turned his attention back to his daughter and former son-in-law. "This, whatever you two have now, is over. You should have never gotten married in the first place. You were both too young and not ready for such a serious commitment. That should have been apparent when Jenna Kay ran off in the middle of the night. Cody, you should have just signed the divorce papers the first time instead of talking her into trying to stay with you."

"Dad….please stop," Jenna whispered as she looked down at the floor.

"Jenna Kay, I'm tired of this. You are divorced and you have a young man who is waiting patiently for you to make up your mind. Do the right thing and marry Randy. Forget about Cody—"

"She can't do that, Mr. Andrews. She loves me—" Cody started to say.

"That was a long time ago. That was before you broke her heart and cheated on her. What man in his right mind would cheat on a lovely young woman like Jenna Kay? A weak man, that's what kind of man."

"I love her and she loves me. She's not happy with Randy."

"How do you know that? Did she tell you or did you try and convince her that she's not happy with him?" Jim asked as he started to raise his voice; he had had enough of this young man and wanted him out of his daughter's life. Now. He caused nothing but heartache.

"She loves me," was all Cody could muster as he looked over at Jenna, tears brimming in her pretty brown eyes. "You told me, Jen. It's me and you….." he said softly as he took a step towards her and lifted up her chin with his fingers. "Me and you….we messed up, but we can make it work, I know we can. Just let it happen….."

Jenna lifted her head, "Can I trust you again?" she whispered.

He nodded, "Yeah, baby you can…..just let it happen…." he whispered back. During the time that the estranged couple was whispering to each other, Alice took Mandy into the other room and motioned for her husband to follow her.

"Jenna, do you remember the last time we got back together?" he asked as he led her over to a chair at the dining room table and had her sit down. She nodded. "We have to do what feels right; you know as well as I do, that when we're together, it's right. We click. We've been through so much…..and as much as you try to keep yourself away from me, you keep coming back….I need you…." he said softly as he leaned over and placed a soft kiss on her cheek. "This is us, Jenna….me and you…."

_**You and me and our memories  
>This is us<strong>_

"I….I don't know….you hurt me so badly," she started to say before he leaned even closer, taking her face in his hands and covering her mouth with his. The room spun for Jenna as she closed her eyes and her turbulent relationship with Cody flashed through her mind.

He teased her in junior high and put gum in her hair.

He stuttered like a fool the first time he asked her out on a date.

He blushed like a little boy when he picked her up for their first date.

Dancing in slow circles at the Homecoming dances; watching her being crowned Queen.

Skipping the prom to get tangled up in each other's arms instead.

Revealing that she was expecting.

Running away in the middle of the night to get married.

Falling apart and leaving.

Being reunited years later, still more in love with each other than the first day they met.

Giving their love another chance.

The truth comes out.

Together again. Falling apart again.

_**You and me making history  
>This is us<strong>_

"Don't give up on us…." he whispered again after he broke the kiss. "We've been through so much…"

Jenna let out a sigh and wiped at the tears that were welling up in her eyes and threatening to fall down her cheeks. "You're right…This is us….." she said in a voice barely audible and then threw her arms around Cody's neck, holding him close to her. "I need you…."

Cody and Jenna were lost in each other's eyes. They didn't hear the front door open again and see Randy walk in with a bouquet of yellow roses in his hand. His face fell when he saw his girl embracing Cody. He dropped the roses on the floor and tried to control the feeling of rage that was rising up in him. "Jenna…." he growled from the door.

Cody let go out of her and her face dropped in a look of shock. What was he doing here? He was supposed to be on the road? "Randy…..what are you doing here? I thought you were on the road?"

"I came back to surprise you," he said gruffly as he stood by the door. "What am I walking in on here?" he demanded. "Why is Cody here?"

Jenna swallowed the fear that was rising up in her throat. "Randy, we need to talk….." she said softly as she reached for Cody's hand. "I….I can't marry you….."


	66. The Last Time

Chapter 66

"What do you mean you can't marry me?" Randy said as he raised his voice. He stalked over to Cody and pulled him away from his fiancé. "What bullshit has Cody been telling you now?" he demanded.

Jim heard the commotion in the kitchen and went in there to see what was going on; he didn't want a fist fight to erupt in his kitchen. "Randy….what are you doing here?" he asked when he saw his daughter's fiancé standing in the kitchen, glaring a hole into his former son-in-law.

"I came to beg Jenna's forgiveness and to ask her to still marry me. But, apparently, I walked in on Runnels telling her more lies," Randy replied tensely, still keeping his icy glare on his former friend.

"Jenna Kay…." Jim began, ready to tell his daughter to ask her ex-husband to leave immediately.

"Dad, don't even start," Jenna said with a shaky voice. "I don't…I don't want to marry Randy." She turned to him, "I'm so sorry, Randy. But, I just can't. I'm still in love with Cody and I don't know how to stop…"

"Jenna, think about what you're saying. You don't want to be with him anymore. He cheated on you, he made you cry. He give up your writing career for him and how did he thank you for that? He cheated on you. He doesn't love you, honey, he just wants someone to stay home and take care of that bastard child he made with Layla."

Before Jenna could open her mouth to reply to Randy, Cody hit Randy with a spear, sending him crashing through the screen door. Jenna screamed as she watched the two men throw punches at each other a few times before Jim stepped in and broke them up. Randy pulled away from Cody. He pushed him aside and walked towards Jenna. Grabbing her by the hips, he dipped her before covering her mouth in a passionate kiss—letting her know what she was giving up with him if she chose that liar Cody over him.

"You're making a mistake," he whispered as he pulled away from her. "Come see me in a few months when he does it again. I'll take you back," he said before he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek and walked away from her. He stopped by Jim and stuck out his hand for a handshake and a mumbled apology about the broken screen door. Before he walked out of the house he stopped in front of Cody. "I love her enough to let her go. Something you don't know anything about. I swear to God, if you do it again, I will find you and beat you….." he snarled at him before he walked out of the house.

.

.

_**Two Weeks Later**_

It's been two weeks since Cody and Jenna made up at her parents' house and Randy walked out of her life. They were taking things slow; she was still living with her mom and dad and Cody was back on the road a few days at a time. McKenzie spent most of her time with Virgil, but a few days a week, she came to stay with her big sister Mandy and daddy's friend Jenna. The girls didn't really understand what was going on right now. Mandy was excited that her daddy was back and that she got to play with him a lot, but sad too that Randy went away and she hadn't seen him for a long time. But then again, she was really happy that mommy was happy and that she got to spend a lot of time playing with her little sister.

"Mommy? Where is Randy?" Mandy asked innocently one day while her and McKenzie colored in Nana's kitchen while Jenna drank coffee with her mother.

"Um…Randy and mommy decided not to date each other anymore," Jenna said carefully. She hadn't fully explained to her daughter that her and Cody were back together and planning on getting married (again) and that she wouldn't see her friend Randy anymore.

"I don't understand. You told me that you and Randy were going to get married?" 

"I know….but I decided that I love your daddy more and that I wanted to marry him…." Jenna said softly with that lovesick look on her face again. She was head over heels in love with Cody and wasn't ashamed to admit that she always had been and couldn't stop loving him.

"Again? Mommy, how many times are you daddy going to get married?" Mandy asked sternly as Alice let out a chuckle.

"This is the last time. I promise," she said softly.

.

.

Jenna and Cody were remarried in a small, private ceremony with the local Justice of the Peace, just like the first time they were married. And just like before, they spent their honeymoon night locked away in a motel room, making love and whispering promises of forever love….


	67. Epilogue

**Epilogue**

A few months after their second middle of the night wedding ceremony, life was starting to get back to normal for Cody and Jenna. Layla gave up her custody battle for McKenzie and was now living full time with Cody and Jenna. Jenna was in the process of legally adopting McKenzie and this made Mandy jump for joy at the thought of having her little sister living with them all of the time.

Cody was back on the road again and focused on his career again. Jenna took a part time job blogging about parenting. Both were happy in their careers, with each other, their children and their life together in general.

Another blessing was on its way; during the time when Cody and Jenna were sneaking around behind Randy's back. This little blessing was named Molly Ann and was born seven months after Cody and Jenna got back together. Apparently she had been just about three months along when she finally made her decision to take Cody back. Cody couldn't be happier sharing his home and life with four beautiful girls.

Randy stayed away from Jenna; the most obvious reason was because she had made it clear that she didn't love him enough to choose him over her first love. The other reason was because he was hurt. Yes, Randy Orton, legendary lady thriller was hurt because of a woman. His intentions with Jenna might have started off insincere, but the more time he had spent with her and Amanda, those feelings changed to those of fondness and love.

He was drafted to the Smackdown roster after the annual 'draft'. This meant that he had come into contact with Cody more than he would have liked to; and was actually scheduled to do a short lived feud with him later this year. The only good thing about being drafted to the other brand and having to come face to face with Cody was that the chances of him running into the lovely Jenna were greater.

Randy got his wish to see Jenna again when her and the girls stopped by to visit Cody at the arena one night when the company was in the Atlanta area for a few days. Imagine his surprise when he saw his ex-girlfriend walking down the empty arena hallways with Mandy on her right side, McKenzie on her left side, both girls chattering away a mile a minute, and Jenna was carrying a sleeping infant in her arms. He stopped in his tracks and took her all in; thirty two years old and two children later, she could still stop traffic. He leaned against the wall and waited.

"Randy!" Mandy squealed as she saw her old friend. He smiled down at the child as she ran up and gave him a big hug. The look of shock and surprise on Jenna's face was pleasing to him. She walked over to him and motioned for her daughter to come back to her side.

"Jenna," he growled softly as he looked her up and down, but not really sure what to say to her. He was curious about the baby; was this baby another one of Cody's mistakes? Surely if she had been pregnant because of him, he would have called him, right? He peered over the blanket covering the infant just as she started to wake up.

"What's her name?" he asked as he motioned to the pink bundle. Baby girl had a thick patch of dark brown hair like Jenna's. He wondered if she had brown eyes like her mommy. Randy got his answer when the baby's eyes opened and he saw icy blue eyes, much like his own, staring back at him.

"Molly," she whispered. "Girls, let's go find daddy and Uncle Dustin," she said quickly as she clutched the baby closer to her chest and started to walk away, the other two girls in tow, following Jenna like baby ducks.

Randy tilted his head to the side and a sick smile spread across his face. Maybe it really wasn't over between him and Jenna. Only time would tell if he was willing enough to do something about it.

_**Author's Note**_

_**So that's it, the last chapter. I want to thank everyone so much for reading and reviewing. Reviews are what make us right. Until next time…**_

_**Jess**_


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